NBL semi-final updates

After the first game of both 3 game NBL semi-final series, the home teams are one game up.

I watched most of the Crocs game on Tuesday night but didn't see the Tigers-Breakers last night. Our boy John Rillie was rolling in the first half but hardly saw the rock after the break. Unfortunately Homicide couldn't buy a bucket, missing lay-up after lay-up ... the odd part was that despite this (and much to everyone's surprise), he managed to knock down a triple. Townsville was up by 12 at one point in the first half and had every chance to win this game but it was definitely the one that got away.

I'll be at the Shafston tonight playing poker so hopefully I'll see a fair bit of the Crocs-Dragons second game.

Also, I came across this interesting discussion about Player Efficiency rankings in the NBL for the 2008/2009 regular season. Click here to find out who was the most efficient ... trust me, you won't guess who was #1.

Click on the titles below to read the recaps of each game.

NBL > Match Report

The South Dragons are one win away from their first grand final appearance after defeating Townsville 94-81 in Game One of the best-of-three Semi-Final series at Hisense Arena on Tuesday night.

The top-ranked Dragons bucked a regular season trend, which saw them lose three of four clashes against the Crocodiles, to record a 13-point win.

A win on Thursday in Townsville will see the Dragons book their place in this season's Grand Final.

The Dragons received the quintessential captain's performance from Mark Worthington (27 points, 12 rebounds), who blew the game apart in the final term with 12 points.

NBL > Match Report

The Melbourne Tigers have edged one step closer to a fourth consecutive grand final appearance by posting a 117-99 victory over the New Zealand Breakers in the opening match of the best-of-three Semi-Final series at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Wednesday night.

It was all one-way traffic right from the opening tip as the Tigers took a 15-point lead into half-time and never let up from that point on to eventually cruise to victory.

The Breakers may have been the best three-point shooting side during the regular season, but the Tigers were dominant in that area in this clash, with David Barlow, Ebi Ere and Luke Kendall in particular deadly from beyond the arc.

Too much Donta Smith (pictured below), Mark Worthington and Adam Gibson than the Crocs could handle in game 1.