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NBL of Canada Playoffs Tip Tonight

Brand

/

Mar 19, 2013


The National Basketball League of Canada enters the post-season as action tips tonight at 7pm AST at the Moncton Coliseum when the host Miracles take on their provincial rival Saint John Mill Rats.

Saint John finished the 2012-13 NBL season at 20-20 and claimed the league's #4 seed out of eight teams. Fifth-ranked Moncton also closed the campaign with a 20-20 record, but Saint John earned the higher seed due to a 6-2 record against the Miracles during the regular season.

Moncton enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak and were the best rebounding team during the season with 6-10 centre Isaac Butts, and 6-8 power forward Sylvania Watkins both among the top-five rebounders in the league. Saint John will try to beat them with the long bomb as they made the most three-pointers of any team this season (381) sinking 9.5 per game.

Scorers clash as Moncton boasts the NBL of Canada's leading scorer, 6-6 shooting guard Devin Sweetney, who averaged 25 points per game during the regular season, while Saint John point guard 5-11 Anthony Anderson scored 21.1 points per game, third-best in the league.

As the #4 and #5 seeds, the teams will play a three-game play-in round that is sure to be an epic battle for New Brunswick. Games two and three (if necessary) will take place in Saint John at Harbour Station. The winner will be moving on to the NBL Semifinals and a date with the national defending champion, and #1-ranked London Lightning who paced the league this season with a 33-7 record.

London currently holds a bye to the five-game Semifinals and await the winner of the Moncton and Saint John series.

On the other side of the Semifinal bracket, the #2-ranked Summerside Storm of Prince Edward Island will tackle the #3-ranked Windsor Express in their own five-game Semifinal tilt.

Summerside was the top team in the Atlantic Division this season finishing with a 26-14 record. The Storm scored 108.2 points per game, close to the league-leading Lightning's 108.8, and are an offensive threat, while the 22-18 Windsor Express will try to slow them with the league's most efficient defence that allowed just 96.9 points per contest during the regular season.

We'll keep you updated as the playoffs roll on, but for more info visit nblcanada.pointstreaksites.com/view/nblcanada and follow @NBLCanada and @NBLCanadaLive on Twitter.