Basketball On The Internet.

AS a believer in omens, I must confess the last thing I thought about was a Perth upset today when some stray cat was howling outside my window in the middle of the night.

The feral bugger took off like a bat out of hell when my shoe zapped past it and it was only when I lay back down I wondered if it had been a wild cat.

And then it struck me!

Omens!

Yes, you guessed it.

Someone had broken wind.

Ah, but so was it the (wind) Breakers or the Wild-cats which The Fates had sent me to distinguish metaphysically which club would seize a 1-0 lead today in the iiNet's Best-of-3 NBL Championship Series?

Dang I hate it when chilli confuses the conversation.

But here's the thing.

Personally, I can barely wait these next few hours until Game 1 tips off at Vector Arena in Auckland.

(Not even the NCAA Final Four matches, the last Smackdown before Wrestlemania or my nephew running around for Geelong in the AFL shortly can stem the growing sense of anticipation.)

New Zealand versus Perth for the second time in two years, their third playoff meeting in three years (Breakers KO'd Perth in the 2011 semis) and the league's two great champions (Perth won in 2010) again squaring off in the Grand Final decider.

No, it isn't quite the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics rivalry but it's a pretty good one and it has all those other wonderful elements which heighten the excitement.

You know, like is this a Boomers coaching dress rehearsal for Andrej Lemanis (NZB) and Rob Beveridge (PW)?

Will Perth get to a record sixth championship or will CJ Bruton at NZ - who started at Perth - get his sixth ring?

Does Shawn Redhage still have something to prove to the club which cut him?

How will Damian Martin's demise and Brad Robbins' rise affect the series?

The NBL's two most recent MVPs - Cedric Jackson (2013) and Kevin Lisch (2012) - both will be on show.

This will be Dillon Boucher's farewell. And Cam Tovey's farewell.

The side stories are legion, as you would expect in a Grand Final.

The two sides met four times during the regular season and the closest was a 15-point win by Perth.

New Zealand won by 17, Perth by 21 (at Vector) and by 25 as well in Perth.

It tells us nothing, other than tune in today at ONE-HD, or on nbl.tv ... although I do have a sneaking suspicion the Wildcats are going to leave an unpleasant odour lingering over the Breakers today.