The defending champion New Zealand Breakers head across the Tasman for their last NBL regular season fixture knowing their defence of the title will extend into the playoffs.
A combination of the Breakers' 100-63 home win over leaders Melbourne United and fifth-placed Adelaide's 106-95 loss to finals-bound Illawarra means the Auckland-based club have locked up the last finals spot.
They face Melbourne at Hisense Arena on Sunday, with both teams now guaranteed to meet again in a three-game semi-final series.
United will host the series opener on Thursday, before the Breakers have home advantage at Vector Arena next Saturday. The decider, if needed, will be back in Melbourne.
The winners will face Perth or Illawarra in the three-match grand final series.
The Breakers have now strung together a four-match winning streak, after a run of six defeats that put their title defence in jeopardy.
Coach Dean Vickerman says they will take a lot of confidence into the playoffs.
"We've been building for some weeks now after digging quite a hole for ourselves with the losing stretch," he said.
"We'll go into the post-season fearing no one. We're happy in our match-ups with Melbourne."
The Breakers lead United 2-1 in their season series, a statistic that has become largely academic given that their semi-final pairing has been confirmed.
Just as Melbourne, who were certain to stay of the table, rested players at the North Shore Events Centre, Vickerman said Sunday's encounter could be a chance to give some of his roster a breather.
"The focus now is obviously on later in the week," he said.
"In some ways it's not ideal to be playing what could be a five-game run against the same opponent, but that's the way of the draw and couldn't be predicted at the start of the season."
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