There is always pressure in stepping onto an NBL court. The cheering in the stands, family and friends watching and the game in the balance, no NBL games are ever easy.

Reaching the NBL Finals is even more daunting. Every win is a step towards reaching the pinnacle of Australian basketball, winning an NBL championship.

The pressure and build up of playing in a NBL Finals Game 5 is equal to that which forges diamonds. Each player knowing that in 40 minutes you will have achieved all your dreams or suffered the worst loss imaginable.

A game with a difficulty level you’ve never experienced  before where the team you’re facing has played against you more than six times in the six months and have studied every tendency, strength and weakness you and your teammates have.

There have been only three NBL Finals decided by a fifth and final game. Only 45 men have experienced the presure cooker situation that a Game 5 is and had the opportunity to make basketball history. the court in a game five and had a chance to make history.

This list includes the greatest Game 5 performances in NBL history.

Dave Thomas (2008)

The Sydney Kings (31-7) and Melbourne Tigers (27-10) wrapped up the regular season in first and second place on the ladder, back when the NBL playoffs including eight from thirteen teas. Both teams made quick work of their playoff opponents in the lead up and created the first vs second match up every NBL fan wanted to see.

After Sydney claimed the first game at home, Melbourne then won the next two games and looked set to claim the trophy. Kings import Isiah Victor had other plans however, scoring 23 points on 10 of 13 shooting (77%) and hauling in 9 boards on Melbourne’s home court.

The series returned to Sydney for game five and saw a sell-out crowd of 10,250 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre show up for Game 5. This was only the third game the Kings had managed to sell out in the previous eight years.

Thomas combined with Chris Anstey to create the ultimate one-two punch in game 5. The two had borderline identical stat lines, both making 6 field goals, 2 three-pointers, 7 free throws and finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

“Thomas always had a knack for hitting big baskets and being in the right place. He gave you the same thing every night and could rebound and finish like few wings in the league. I thought he really bothered their small guards that day and fully expected him to win the MVP of the series” Chris Anstey told Aussie Hoopla in a recent interview.

Thomas certainly saved his best game for game five of the Grand Final. His 12 rebounds were a season-high for Thomas and his 21 points were the third-highest scoring game for 2008.

Ebi Ere (2004)

The Sydney Kings (31-9) and West Sydney Razorbacks (27-14) finished in first and third place respectively back in 2004. Sydney swiftly exited Brisbane while West Sydney eliminated second place finishers Wollongong to set up an all Sydney Grand Final which is viewed by many as the most exciting NBL Finals of all time.

That year Ere had formed a powerful one-two punch with Matt Nielsen who delivered his final and finest NBL season. During the regular season Ere had been comfortable to defer to the Nielsen who in turn led the league in scoring (23.5 ppg) and finished second in rebounding (10.2 rpg) and blocks (2.7 bpg) which resulted in him hoisting the NBL MVP trophy at seasons end.

Nielsen had struggled during the first four games against a formidable Razorbacks front line featuring Simon Dwight, Sam MacKinnon and Russell Hinder that was able to reduce his drop scoring output to 16ppg.

Ere, fresh out of the University of Oklahoma, knew his efforts in Game 5 would be what delivered victory or defeat for the Kings.

The Razorbacks led 28-14 after the first quarter, 49-37 at the half and 62-56 heading into the final quarter. Ere, who had increased his scoring to 24 points per game over the last three games of the series, went off for 13 points in a final quarter where the Kings outscored West Sydney 34-17 which included scoring the final 18 points of the game.

With the final siren bellowed the scoreboard displayed a 90-79 Sydney victory, a result of the worst fourth-quarter failure in NBL history.

Chris Anstey (2008)

Chris Anstey has played every Game 5 except one due to the Tigers dominance in the late 2000’s. Chris Anstey had returned to the NBL in 2006 and delivered the Melbourne Tigers a championship only 6 month laters. The following season the Tigers lost the Grand Final 3-1 to a Brisbane Bullets team now consider to be the greatest of all time.

In 2008 Anstey played with a renewed vigour stemming from the Bullets loss. Anstey increased his production from the season prior, scoring 3 more points per game, grabbing 3 extra rebounds per game and he improved his shooting from both the field and the free throw line.

The night prior to the 2008 NBL Finals saw Anstey given a $60,000 Hummer (Hummer were league sponsors that season) and the NBL MVP award after averaging 22 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists that season.

The series went the distance and it was the sour taste of defeat that motivated Anstey to deliver one of his finest games in the NBL.

“I hate losing, I remember the start of the third quarter I focused on going inside and establishing my game from the inside out. I was able to score two or three times in a row early in the third quarter and when I hit a three in front of the Kings bench I knew we had it won” Anstey told Aussie Hoopla.

Anstey overpowered the Kings frontline of  Mark Worthington, Russell Hinder and Isiah Victor with his offensive versatility, scoring on a variety of shots from beyond the perimeter, mid-range and inside the paint. The King’s big men had no answer for him besides fouling and Anstey made them pay at the charity stripe also, making 7 of 8 free throws.

With the Tigers up 63-61 at the start of the fourth quarter Anstey and the Tigers really ramped things up defensively, limiting the Kings to only 12 fourth-quarter points and claiming victory for the Tigers 85-73 with Anstey claiming the Finals MVP in the process.

Tremmell Darden (2009)

In 2006 the South Dragons entered the NBL as an expansion franchise, in their third season they reached their first (and last) NBL Grand Final. 2006 was also the year Chris Anstey returned to the Melbourne Tigers after playing in Europe and the NBA and for the next four years, the Tigers reached the Grand Final.

Brain Goorjian had taken over the Dragons coaching reigns after two sub-par seasons from Shane Heal as a player-coach.  The Dragons (27-11) finished top of the NBL ladder that season and Melbourne (24-13), the favourite to win the title, finished second to set up a cross-town rivalry to decide the title.

The teams won their respective home in games one and two but everything changed during Game 3 after an Anstey elbow to Dragons guard Rhys Carter which sparked a mid-court melee between the two teams. Anstey was ejected and the Dragons snared victory against the undermanned Tigers squad.

Anstey, who narrowly escaped a suspension, was able to secure a game 4 win for the Tigers but when Game 5 rolled around, it was the output from Tremmell Darden which decided the fate of the series, a player who had been relatively quiet until that point.

Darden had scored only 1 point in the first game of the series and was averaging 11 points over the first four games of the series.  In front of 9,000 rabid fans ignited by the previous games confrontations Darden scored 21 of his 31 points in the third quarter which made it almost impossible for the Tigers to recover.  The Dragons winning game 5 102-81.

“It was an incredible performance from Darden and he just never seemed like he was going to miss. The timing of him doing was incredible for the Dragons, that just put the game too far out of reach for us to catch them  and they were too good for us that day” said Anstey.

Game 5 of this year’s NBL Grand Final will be held at Hisense Arena, Melbourne and can be watched live from 6pm on SBS Viceland and Fox Sports.

Dan Boyce (861 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.