A season’s worth of Wednesday night NBL action has finally led up to this moment: the final of the inaugural Ignite Cup.
The NBL followed in the footsteps of the NBA by adding an in-season tournament to its regular season, where we saw each team battle it out — trying to win quarters, as well as games — for a chance at a $400,000 prize pool.
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“We are thrilled to be creating history with the first ever Ignite Cup Final this Sunday, in what’s shaping up to be an unmissable game with New Zealand and Adelaide,” NBL CEO David Stevenson said on Monday.
“We’ve invested a lot into the in-game experience, so all the fans that attend this Sunday should expect an elevated level of presentation, not to mention the ones on broadcast via Disney+.
“It will be like no NBL game fans have ever been to, and it will be worth every cent.”
Each team played four Ignite Cup games over their respective 2025-26 NBL campaigns — 20 extra games in total, all of which counted toward the regular season standings — and we’ve ended up with an intriguing finals matchup on Sunday: the Adelaide 36ers — a top-two team with an MVP candidate in Bryce Cotton — going up against a New Zealand Breakers team that finished outside the play-in but has shown to be formidable on their night.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Event information
When: Sunday, February 22 @ 3:30pm (AEST). That’s 4:30pm (AEDT).
Where: Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast, Queensland.
Where to watch: The Ignite Cup final will be broadcast live on ESPN1 and ESPN on Disney+.
What’s on the line?
The 36ers and Breakers will be playing for a $400,000 total prize pool.
The winner of the final will receive $300,000, while the losing team nets $100,000. Of those winnings, 60% will go directly to the players, while 40% goes to the respective teams.
The matchup
If you look at this matchup on paper, you’ll see a top-two team going up against one that finished the regular season in seventh place, but there’s good reason to believe this will be a tough-fought contest.
That’s because, every time the 36ers and Breakers have faced each other this season, it’s gone down to the wire. In the three matchups between these two teams, the 36ers are 3-0, but those three victories were all by four or less points, and with the need of some Cotton heroics.
Let’s take the last game between these two teams as an example, because it was only a week ago. The Breakers came out hot and jumped out to a quick lead that ballooned to as many as 18, and went into the fourth quarter with a 71-59 advantage. It took a special final period from Cotton — who finished with 42 points, including a dagger three-point with 20 seconds to play — for the 36ers to walk away with a 92-89 win; keep in mind this was a healthy Adelaide team against a Breakers lineup that was missing three starters in Sam Mennenga, Karim Lopez, and Rob Baker II.
Five-time MVP Bryce Cotton in action against the Breakers. Mark Brake/Getty Images
The Breakers get a big boost for this game, with Mennenga and Lopez returning to action, though it’s uncertain if import Izaiah Brockington or Tai Webster will hit the floor, which would severely impact a team without much backcourt depth at the best of times.
The point guard battle between Cotton and Parker Jackson-Cartwright will be fascinating to watch, because neither team really has the personnel to consistently stop perimeter threats, and so it’s not a surprise that both have performed well in the previous matchups between these two teams.
The 36ers have had an up and down finish to their season, but are still the league’s third-ranked offence and boast a roster that includes Cotton, an imposing frontcourt pairing of Zylan Cheatham and Isaac Humphries, and a Most Improved Player candidate in Flynn Cameron.
“Just going off the last game, it’s hard to go against Bryce Cotton,” NBA champion Aron Baynes said, when asked who he thinks wins the game. “If it’s close, like I think it will be, come the end of the game, you want the best player on your team.
“He’s the best player in the league, so I’ve got to go with Adelaide.”
Players to watch
Bryce Cotton
There’s no question that Cotton is the headliner of this matchup.
The 36ers guard is a five-time MVP, nine-time scoring champion, and three-time champion, and is once again arguably the most dominant player in the league this season. Cotton leads the NBL is both points and assists — 25.7 points and 7.6 assists a game — and has a real chance at winning his sixth MVP come the awards night on Sunday.
The Breakers, in particular, have had difficulty containing Cotton, with the 33-year-old averaging 32.7 points and 6.3 assists per game in the three contests between these two teams, as well as hitting multiple clutch shots over the course of their season series.
Parker Jackson Cartwright
The Breakers have a dynamic American guard of their own in Parker Jackson Cartwright, who’s in the midst of an All-NBL season of his own.
Jackson-Cartwright averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 assists per game over the regular season, and has consistently impressed with the pace he plays with, while he’s also shown to have a knack for coming up big in high-stakes environments. The final of an Ignite Cup is the sort of stage where we see the best of Jackson-Cartwright, and he’s been especially potent against the 36ers, averaging 21.3 points and 9.0 assists per game in the three contests.
The 36ers don’t have a heap of resistance on the perimeter, nor do they play with a ton of pace, so Jackson-Cartwright’s skillset has the potential to stand out in this matchup.
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Zylan Cheatham
There’s often a corollary between Cheatham playing forceful, aggressive basketball and the 36ers winning games, so the import forward could prove to be the difference-maker for Mike Wells’ team.
One of the most athletic players in the NBL, Cheatham has averaged 11.7 points and a league-leading 10.2 rebounds per game through the regular season, acting as an offensive hub as well as a defensive anchor for the 36ers.
The Breakers don’t have a traditional matchup for Cheatham — bigs aren’t mobile enough, and wings are too small — so there’s potential for the 30-year-old to find openings against Petteri Koponen’s team.
Sam Mennenga
Mennenga has made an unlikely, swift return from a wrist injury to bolster the Breakers going into this final. The Kiwi big-man has emerged this season as one of the most imposing players in the NBL, and his first game back from injury was one hell of a reminder.
The 24-year-old had a career-high 32 points in a win over the Cairns Taipans on Thursday night, looking unstoppable at and around the basket, where he has a unique combination of strength and finesse. Mennenga has scored 20-or-more points in his last five games and, while the 36ers have one of the league’s most imposing frontlines in Isaac Humphries, Cheatham, and Nick Rakocevic, they’re still likely to have their hands full with the Kiwi.
Karim Lopez
This is our last opportunity to see Lopez — a projected top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft — in action for the Breakers in the NBL, before he inevitably progresses to bigger and better things.
Lopez was dealing with a leg injury that kept him out of the last matchup between these two teams, but the 18-year-old is primed to play in this game, and he brings a physical and athletic point of difference at the wing position that could prove tricky for the 36ers to deal with.
The Mexican forward averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and capped off a stellar season with a 32-point showing against Melbourne United at the end of January. In that game, we saw a mixture of Lopez’s outside shooting, improved creation off the dribble, and athletic exploits in transition; all of which he has the potential to exhibit in this Ignite Cup final against a slower, smaller 36ers team.
