My question is when do the play offs start and when are the tickets on sale?

36ers and Perth could still swap positions .

The finals aren't set.

Adelaide can still overtake Perth and finish 3rd if Perth lose today and then we beat the Cats by 28 or more next Friday night.

The only thing set is the teams in the top 4.

NZ and Cairns also can swap plcaes if NZ beat Perth today and beat Cairns by 26 or more next week.

So based on the massive blow outs that would need to take place, its gonna be Cairns V Adl and NZ V Perth. Im already trying to swap shifts around, Cairns as someone pointed out earlier, has there finals dates on there site.

There's also the slim chance that Perth drop all 3 spots ;) unlikely but Crocs are also playing very well at the moment.

Drop all 3 games I meant

it doesn't need a massive blow out for Perth and Adelaide to swap positions. If NZ beat Perth today, Adelaide and Perth will be level. If Adelaide beat Perth and they both then win their last games, (Adelaide against Wollongong and Perth against Townsville), Adelaide will be one win ahead and finish 3rd. Critical game today for Perth

Well I hope Perth win today then. Personally would prefer Cairns in semis and like to Perth and NZ play a nice physical series... that goes to 3!

Cairns have two semi-finals' scenarios on their web sites:

"Scenario 1
Game 1 - Thursday, 26 February 15 @ Cairns Convention Centre
Game 2 - Saturday 28 February @ AWAY [opponent TBC]
Game 3 (if required) - Monday 2 March 2015 @ Cairns Convention Centre

Scenario 2
Game 1 - Friday, 27 February 15 @ Cairns Convention Centre
Game 2 - Sunday, 1 March 15 @ AWAY [opponent TBC]
Game 3 - Tuesday, 3 March 15 @ Cairns Convention Centre"

Couldn't see anything similar on other clubs' sites nor on NBLsite.

Can anyone confirm that scenario 1 refers to them finishing 1st... surely it has to be.

Kobe24 - here's where I found the info

http://www.taipans.com/article/id/16thvl5fudl1p1ikk20erhiegl

I didn't see mention of what drives each scenario

There's actually quite a few hypotheticals. And none of the spots are settled.

On the NZ/Cairns side of the equation...
If...
Perth beat NZ today, Cairns finish 1st. Regardless of other results.
If...
NZ beat Perth today, then NZ beat Cairns by 25 or more, NZ finish 1st.
If NZ win both, but by less than 25 to Cairns, Cairns finish top.
If...
Cairns beat NZ, they finish top (obviously).

On the Adelaide/Perth side of the equation...
If...
NZ beat Perth today, Adelaide beat both Perth and Wollongong (by any margin), Adelaide finish 3rd.
If...
NZ beat Perth today, Adelaide beat Perth by 28 or more, then regardless of the Wollongong result and Townsville result, Adelaide still come 3rd.
If...
Perth beat NZ today, Adelaide beat Perth by 28 or more and beat Wollongong, Adelaide finish 3rd regardless of the Townsville result.
If...
Perth beat NZ today, Adelaide beat Perth by less than 28 and beat Wollongong, Perth need to lose to Townsville.
If...
Adelaide lose to Wollongong, Perth need to lose all 3 of their games, or lose 2 including by Adelaide by more than 28.
If...
Perth beat Adelaide, they finish 3rd (don't think I covered that).

If...
Adelaide beat Perth by 27 and they end up on the same amount of wins... umm... I assume it goes to percentage, which means Perth finish 3rd.
Same deal with NZ by 24, Cairns still finish top.

Think that covers all the bases.
Plenty of things can still happen.

Just, out of interest, Adelaide can still conceivably have a home Grand Final series...
If we beat Perth and one of the possible outcomes happen for us to come 3rd, then we beat 2nd and Perth beat 1st in the first round of the playoffs.

I'd give it about a 75% chance that Cairns finish first, NZ second, Perth 3rd, Adelaide 4th though (pre-playoffs, not willing to predict who wins round 1).

Adelaide or Perth hosting 2 games of the GF series is a possibility.....only if both Cairns and NZ lose the Semi-final series. Otherwise neither will host more than 2 games over the course of the finals (one Semi, one Grand).

Question. Is it time the NBL went back to a 5 game series for both the Semis and Grand Final? I know it was tried for a few years (2004-2009), but that was when the league was struggling with dropping attendances (a lot of which I attribute to the move from FTA television to Foxtel which severely limited their potential audience).

Not both. But I'd be open to the idea of a 3, then 5 for the GF.
The Semis didn't really get that great crowds last year.

I think the finals are now realistically a race in three (or maybe even only two.) NZ have been up and down of late, so they're not the threat they have been.

Personally, I hope the Cats drop to 4th.
The finals WILL test Adelaide, but if they get through the SF then they are legitimate championship contenders and they should play Cairns in the GF. I would prefer not to see those two teams play off in the SF, and allow NZ a GF berth by default.

I really hope Adelaide get to meet Perth in the GF, would be that much sweeter. White hot form, right time of the year, and if we finish 3rd and perth can make it from 4th, we get home court advantage!

I really hope Adelaide get to meet Perth in the GF, would be that much sweeter.