IT WILL be a tall order for the Perth Wildcats when they face off against the ladder-leading Sydney Kings in a 2026 National Basketball League (NBL) playoff series, which is set to begin at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday night.

The Kings ended the season on top spot, while the Wildcats only recently secured their playoff berth having emerged victorious out of the play-in tournament. Now, two of the NBL’s biggest clubs will lock horns in a series that will determine which side advances to the Championship Series, wrapping up one of the closest title races in recent memory.

Although the Kings will enter the series favoured to get the job done, the Wildcats have shown their strengths throughout the season, and are certainly deserving of a playoff berth, so a surprise could be on the cards.

Sydney Kings vs. Perth Wildcats

Game One
Qudos Bank Arena
Wednesday, March 11 @ 7:30pm

The Kings have been the best team in the NBL throughout the 2025/26 season, finishing stronger than any side to steal top spot from the Adelaide 36ers in the closing weeks of the fixture. It was a deserving result from Sydney, who had passed the test against just about every team over the last 10 weeks and was building towards a big postseason campaign.

Heading into the playoffs, the Kings will certainly be the hunted given they occupy top spot and are considered favourites for the championship. They were nearly flawless in the closing weeks of the season, and will be hopeful that the two-week break has not interrupted that momentum heading into the semi-finals.

Although he may not have emerged victorious in the MVP race at the NBL awards night, Kendric Davis still has the chance to claim bragging rights by leading his side to a championship in the coming weeks. He has been the best player in the competition over the past month, and will be integral to Sydney’s hopes of winning it all.

The Wildcats have played the most basketball out of any of the playoff teams over the past two weeks, having lost their first play-in game against the SEM Phoenix and then defeated Melbourne United a few days later to finally avoid elimination and book their spot in the semi-finals, albeit against the best team in the NBL.

Perth will enter the series as underdogs, but has shown plenty throughout NBL26, and is certainly deserving of a playoff spot. It will take their best, but the Wildcats are still more than capable of causing the upset here, especially if their stars can fire in enemy territory for game one tonight.

Much of Perth’s hopes of advancing to the championship series relies on the team’s frontcourt pairing of Kristian Doolittle and Jo Lual-Acuil. The pair were electric against United over the weekend, showing exactly how dangerous the Wildcats can be when their bigs are fit and firing, so look for one or both players to be aggressive against the Kings.