The excitement continued until the final weekend of the regular season, with Solent claiming a third straight league title whilst a number of other clubs were still battling for playoff position.
By beating Leicester 91-65, the South coast side were confirmed as champs and #1 seeds, with Thames Valley second and Hemel third.
In the COVID affected season, the NBL post season is working a little differently to previous years. Full details can be viewed by clicking the button below.
As the division's top two seeds both Solent and TVC will receive a bye in the opening round, with the teams that finished third and below all in action.
The first round of the playoffs has been confirmed as follows, with all ties being played over the weekend 24/25 April:
Both Solent and Thames Valley are guaranteed a home game in the next round, with the #1 Kestrels facing either Loughborough or Reading and the #2 Cavs going up against Worthing or BA London Lions.
The division’s newly promoted teams for 2020/21, Essex Rebels and Team Newcastle University, both secured a home tie in round one, an impressive achievement after making the step from D2.
It’s worth noting that next weekend’s home teams were a combined 8-1 against their scheduled opponents during the regular season, with the lone outlier being BA London Lions’ 84-73 victory over Worthing back in March.
That game was in East London however, with Worthing taking the return leg on the South coast 85-82 two weeks ago.
As the Thunder will have home advantage again next weekend, that more recent contest perhaps provides a better yardstick between the two sides.
Teams are now hard at work confirming tip dates and times with venues and these will be announced in due course.
Likewise, streaming details will also be released as part of our regular Friday NBL preview on the Basketball England website.
