Perth Wildcats to face South East Melbourne in NBL season opener

Perth Wildcats will open their season and unveil their championship banner at RAC Arena on January 24 with a match against South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Wildcats were forced to sit out round one after returning from Brisbane on Saturday to enter quarantine. But the NBL told The West Australian they would immediately focus on keeping the Wildcats in Perth until next month’s hub in Victoria and use South Australia as a transition state to avoid teams having to quarantine when flying to WA.

Perth’s Sunday afternoon clash with the Phoenix will tip off at 2pm.

The Phoenix re-located to Tasmania amid the recent COVID-19 outbreaks and will play Adelaide on Sunday. They will then play a second match against the 36ers to open round two in what looms as a likely trend of back-to-back games being played between the same teams to avoid excessive border crossings.

New Zealand are also living in Tasmania and they will replace the Phoenix in South Australia during round two. The Breakers also have a bye in round one.

A match between Perth and New Zealand is now the most likely fixture for round three, but the league will closely watch the COVID-19 situation throughout the country before making any further announcements.

The NBL originally announced the first five rounds of the season in December, followed that with a revised schedule that was only two rounds last week and then had to cancel that as borders shut.

The new fixture has basketball being played every day except for January 19 from Friday night’s tip-off in Adelaide until the end of round two on January 25.

“We’re pleased to be able to announce the next round of our schedule and stage the first home game in Perth for the NBL’s reigning champions, the Perth Wildcats,” NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said in a statement.

“Fans across the Tasman can also look forward to watching the SKY Sport New Zealand Breakers open their season against Adelaide. Cairns will host two games against Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane will play its second home game against The Hawks.

“We will continue to assess the situation over the coming weeks and be guided by the advice of the states as we schedule more games as part of our rolling schedule this season. As soon as restrictions ease we hope to be in a position to be able to also schedule games in Victoria and New South Wales.”

NBL ROUND TWO

Wednesday January 20

Adelaide 36ers v South East Melbourne Phoenix, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Thursday January 21

Brisbane Bullets v The Hawks, Nissan Arena

Friday January 22

Adelaide 36ers v SKY Sport New Zealand Breakers, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Saturday January 23

Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings, Cairns Pop-Up Arena

Sunday January 24

Perth Wildcats v South East Melbourne Phoenix, RAC Arena 2pm

Monday January 25

Cairns Taipans v Melbourne United, Cairns Pop-Up Arena