Six of the NBL's eight coaches will break out the calculators over the next seven days as the closest season in the league's 38-year history goes right down to the wire.
Adelaide have the minor premiership sewn up despite two straight losses and last-placed Brisbane are destined to finish with the wooden spoon
The remaining teams from second to seventh all remain in contention for a finals berth heading into next week's final round
Results from those six season-ending games will impact on the final standings, right down to the margins in head-to-head meetings between teams during the 28-game regular season.
Melbourne United kept their season alive with Saturday night's 89-76 away victory over Sydney and will back up on Monday night at home in another high-stakes encounter with second-placed Illawarra.
Melbourne (12-13) have to win at least two of their final three games, while the Kings (13-14) must beat Perth next Friday and hope it is enough to cement a top four finish.
"Even if we win it may not get necessarily get us there," Sydney coach Andrew Gaze said."
Perth have made the playoffs the last 30 years and you do that on the basis of having a very strong home record.
This season's been a little different though.
There's been a lot of variables thrown up, a lot of surprise results.
"There's so many twists and turns to this season that I don't feel intimidated going over there.
"If we can play our best basketball and get everyone on the same page working together, we've shown through the course of the season that we can put together a performance that's good enough to win over there.
"The Kings proved basketball is alive and kicking in Sydney, drawing 11,005 fans to their final home game - their biggest turnout in 12 years.
"It was humbling," Gaze said."It makes it even more disappointing that we were unable to provide a result they deserve."
The way in which they've come out and supported us is heartwarming and hopefully it'll provide us with a foundation we can build on."
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