Wildcats' finals guide: Where we can finish with one round remaining
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Written By
Jordan McArdle
The Wildcats host Adelaide 36ers in their final game of the home-and-away season at RAC Arena on Friday night, looking to clinch at least third - and potentially second - spot for finals.
Sealing second spot would also require a boost in percentage boost over second-placed Melbourne United, who take on South East Melbourne Phoenix’s in Saturday night’s Throwdown at John Cain Arena.
If the Wildcats beat the 36ers and United go down to their cross-town rivals by more than a combined margin of roughly 30 points, it will be enough to overcome the percentage differential of 1.16 per cent.
That means an automatic semi-final berth and hosting rights against the third-versus-fourth play-in game winner.
If it’s by less than the 30-point combined margin, the Wildcats will finish third which means hosting a play-in clash against the fourth-ranked team at Perth High-Performance Centre (Perth HPC) in Mt Claremont on Tuesday.
Member pre-sale ticketing for this game will go on sale via Ticketmaster on Sunday 9 February at midday WST.
General public sale is from 10am WST on Monday 10 February.
The Phoenix or Sydney Kings will be the Wildcats’ opponent should they finish third.
The winner of that game will face the second-placed team in a best-of-three semi-final series, with two of those games away from home.
The losers gets a second chance at home against the winner of the fifth-versus-sixth play-in game, with the teams fighting it out for the last semi-final spot.
A loss to the 36ers could see the Wildcats drop to as low as fifth, depending on whether the Phoenix and Kings win their final-round games.
Like the Phoenix, the Kings also face local rivals in Illawarra - who have already clinched top spot - in Wollongong on Friday night.
The date of the play-in fixtures will be confirmed on Saturday night, shortly after the completion of the regular season.
Stay up to date with all the Wildcats’ post-season news via our finals hub.