Basketball On The Internet.

NEW Zealand and Perth virtually have been unbackable to contest next month's NBL grand final series since halfway through the regular season.

Yet both open their playoff campaigns tonight in best-of-three semi-finals against teams with vastly inferior records suddenly looking far from invulnerable.

The Breakers (24-4) have Game One at home at Vector Arena in Auckland against a Sydney team that finished 12 wins behind it in fourth place on 12-16. Should be a breeze, right?

In fact, only two teams beat New Zealand this season, and one of them was Sydney.

Two of their other clashes were determined by a field goal.

Here's another nice fact to consider.

The Breakers have lost their semi-final Game 1 clashes despite being at home in the past two seasons, going down 101-78 to Perth in 2011 and 99-82 to Townsville last season.

Admittedly, New Zealand won both series 2-1, then went on to claim the Grand Final series, but it does point some light on the Kings' dark mission.

"There's no secret behind we've dropped the first game the last two years, and obviously that's something we're aware of,'' Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis told AAP.

"But it doesn't affect the way we come and prepare for this game. We need to prepare well and we need to come out with the right mindset, play well and give ourselves a chance to win.''

New Zealand's 16-game winning streak came to a sudden close in the last regular season round in Perth where the Wildcats completed 13 straight home wins.

Ben Madgen has enjoyed an All Star season for Sydney, import Darnell Lazare has been stepping up and Ian Crosswhite closed the regular season playing some of his best basketball.

Lemanis clearly rates Crossy.

"If you look at his numbers they are unbelievable numbers,'' Lemanis said.

"I think he's also an unbelievable screen-setter - some may suggest illegally at times - but he does a good job of getting his teammates open.''

(Referees? Could you please take that into immediate account? Thank you.)

The Breakers hardly need help, frankly, but Kings coach Shane Heal remains confident Sydney can get the job done.

"They are a team that we match up pretty well against and we feel like we've got some strategies to be able to compete with a team like that,'' he said.

Bravado?

The results definitely support Heal's remarks.

Meanwhile, over in the west, while Wollongong's 13-15 record pales beside Perth's 22-6 win-loss mark, their head-to-head results tell a different story.

The Hawks - beset by injury, losing point guard Rhys Martin, import guard Lance Hurdle, and stalwart Glen Saville to season-ending knee issues - went 2-2 in four in-season clashes with the Wildcats.

Their 100-67 win over Perth was the Wildcats' worst night of the season. They did avenge it with a 28-point win over the Hawks, the other two games going to the wire.

"No way can you look past Wollongong," Perth coach Rob Beveridge said. "We've had some great games with them and a lot of history."

That history dates back to the 2010 grand final the Wildcats won from the Hawks.

On recent history though, Wollongong should not stand a chance.

The Wildcats' home winning run at their new $550 million fortress in the heart of Perth's CBD isn't just formidable in itself - that 13-win run has been by an average of 18 points.

The Wildcats are averaging home crowds of 11,292 and have been holding opponents to an average of 59.6 points, 69 the single most they have conceded.

The Hawks last won in Perth in round 10 of the 2005-06 season so is tonight a tall order, or what?

Ultimately, while the above is all fact, once the ball is tossed in the air at tip-off, it becomes about as relevant as suggesting 13 has to be unlucky for the Wildcats.

It won't matter a bit.

The records won't matter in Auckland, they won't matter in Perth.

It's just about playing a great game, executing a solid strategy and maybe getting a lucky break or two.

As opposed to an unlucky break, or three.