The Auckland Tuatara will face the defending champion Wellington Saints in their first ever playoff game in the Sal’s NBL on Wednesday night.
The Tuatara finished in a four-way tie for third after the completion of the regular season with a 10-8 record but hold the fifth ranking after a mini ladder determined final positions.
That means a date with the seriously in-form Saints at 8pm on Wednesday night at Eventfinda Stadium in the second play-in game.
The Tuatara lost to the Saints in their final regular season game on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd and Aaron Young’s side will need to dig deep to reverse that result.
“The Saints will be a tough ask obviously but we know that if we get things right, we can rise to the occasion,” Young said.
“We took a lot out of Saturday’s game, and we will be better for it with CJ [Chris Johnson] and Taki [Fahrensohn] getting back into the groove after a few games away.
“This is what we play for – this time of the year – and we know we are capable of giving this competition a real shake.”