Basketball On The Internet.

NEW Zealand kept its Grand Final appointment with Perth today when it took care of gallant Sydney 99-88 at the SEC.

The Kings went down fighting - much as Wollongong did to Perth - but sadly, the only prize for gallantry-in-defeat is knowing you gave it your best shot.

Coaches Gordie McLeod at the Hawks and Shane Heal at the Kings can go into the off-season knowing their clubs gave it their all and proud of how much was achieved under great duress.

What McLeod did after losing the 1, 2, 3-men of his first five was pretty close to extraordinary. And Heal too came up with a Kings culture shift to not only bury pre-season predictions of an eighth-placed finish but achieving it without his key import Corin Henry.

Kudos to both coaches and to their charges for jobs well done.

But the bottom line is it is the Breakers Versus the Wildcats - as it always should have been and ultimately had to be - for the iiNet NBL Championship.

It starts at Vector Arena in Auckland with Game 1 of the Grand Final series on Sunday (April 7), Game 2 at Perth Arena on Friday-week (April 12).

If a deciding Game 3 is needed, it is back to Vector on Thursday, April 18.

Most interest, of course, will focus on the injured calf of Perth playmaker and defensive specialist Damian Martin and whether he will be able to make it back for Sunday's series opener.

"It's not looking good at all,'' Perth coach Rob Beveridge said in the wake of yesterday's win in Wollongong.

"It's going to be a busy week for our physio, but the good thing about it is we do have a bit of time until the grand final.

"Damo is one of these people that recovers quick. He's got the biggest heart so I wouldn't be writing him off just yet.''

Fact is, Martin is the key to Perth bringing the Dr John Raschke Trophy back to Australia because the duel between the Defensive Player of the Year and New Zealand's league MVP Cedric Jackson will be significant in determining the outcome.

Otherwise, Bevo will need to come up with something very special.

The Kings went close, playing tough at both ends of the floor and James Harvey hitting a three on the buzzer for a 26-23 lead at the first break.

They had it out to 41-31 in the second but CJ Bruton (21 points at 83%, 3-of-4 threes) scored seven points in a minute and a 28-12 third quarter broke the game apart for the Breakers.

When they additionally scored the first eight points of the final period, grand final venue bookings already were being confirmed.

More about Bruton in a minute.

In-form Breakers centre Alex Pledger went for an 18-point, 12-rebound double, forward Tom "The Bomb'' Abercrombie had 17 points and Corey Webster was smoking for 12.

Kings co-captains Ben Madgen with 29, and James Harvey with 25, made sure the season didn't end without a fight.

Just back to CJ for a second.

Here's a couple of interesting facts.

CJ will be competing for his sixth championship, just like the Wildcats.

He already has as many championships as Larry Sengstock (five), the man after whom the Grand Final MVP medal is named.

So either CJ or the Wildcats will come out of this series with a sixth title.

The irony? He started as a 17-year-old with the Wildcats.

You remember his first NBL shot, from halfway?

(Thank goodness for youtube if you don't.)

By the way, this will be the fourth time only we have had the same grand finalists in consecutive years, according to @nblfacts on twitter.

The first was Adelaide 36ers-Brisbane Bullets in 1985-86, then Canberra Cannons-North Melbourne Giants in 1988-89, with Melbourne Tigers-South East Melbourne Magic in 1996-97.

This is the first time it has happened this century.

In all those back-to-back series, the results were 1-1.

Semi Finals Game 2

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 99 (Bruton 21, Pledger 18, Abercrombie  17) d SYDNEY KINGS 88 (Madgen 29, Harvey 25, Crosswhite 11) at Sydney Entertainment Centre.

(New Zealand Breakers win 2-0)