1991 NBL season
League	National Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Duration	6 April – 22 September 1991 25 September – 11 October 1991 (Finals) 19 – 27 October 1991 (Grand Finals)
Number of teams	14
TV partner(s)	Seven Network
Regular season
Season champions	Perth Wildcats
Season MVP	Andrew Gaze (Melbourne)
Top scorer	Andrew Gaze (Melbourne)
Finals
Champions	Perth Wildcats (2nd title)
Runners-up	Eastside Spectres
Finals MVP	Pete Hanson (Perth)
NBL seasons
← 1990 1992 →

Club	Location	Home Venue	Capacity	Founded	Head coach
Adelaide 36ers	Adelaide, South Australia	Apollo Stadium	3,000	1982	Don Shipway
Brisbane Bullets	Brisbane, Queensland	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	13,500	1979	Brian Kerle
Canberra Cannons	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	AIS Arena	5,200	1979	Mel Dalgleish
Eastside Spectres	Melbourne, Victoria	Burwood Stadium	2,000	1979	Brian Goorjian
Geelong Supercats	Geelong, Victoria	Geelong Arena	2,000	1982	Barry Barnes ^[1]
Gold Coast Rollers	Gold Coast, Queensland	Carrara Indoor Stadium	2,992	1990	Dave Claxton
Hobart Tassie Devils	Hobart, Tasmania	Derwent Entertainment Centre	5,400	1983
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong, New South Wales	Illawarra Basketball Stadium	2,000	1979	Dave Lindstrom
Melbourne Tigers	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1931	Lindsay Gaze
Newcastle Falcons	Newcastle, New South Wales	Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium	2,200	1979
North Melbourne Giants	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1980	Bruce Palmer
Perth Wildcats	Perth, Western Australia	Perth Entertainment Centre	8,200	1982	Murray Arnold
Southern Melbourne Saints	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1979	Gary Fox
Sydney Kings	Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney Entertainment Centre	12,500	1988	Bob Turner

Regular season

The 1991 regular season took place over 24 rounds between 6 April 1991 and 22 September 1991.

1991 saw Melbourne Tigers superstar Andrew Gaze became the first player to score 1,000 points in an NBL regular season. He scored 1,007 points in 26 games at 38.7 points per game. For his efforts he was awarded the first of what would eventually become a league record seven NBL Most Valuable Player awards as well as his 6th straight selection to the All NBL team.

Ladder

Pos	1991 NBL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Perth Wildcats	26	22	4	84.62%	5–0	W8	12–1	10–3	2750	2508	109.65%
2	Eastside Spectres¹	26	17	9	65.38%	5–0	W5	10–3	7–6	2932	2792	105.01%

3	Geelong Supercats¹	26	17	9	65.38%	3–2	W2	11–2	6–7	3143	2980	105.47%
4	Adelaide 36ers²	26	16	10	61.54%	4–1	L1	11–2	5–8	3028	2876	105.29%
5	Melbourne Tigers²	26	16	10	61.54%	3–2	L2	10–3	6–7	3104	3044	101.97%
6	North Melbourne Giants²	26	16	10	61.54%	3–2	W1	8–5	8–5	3047	2840	107.29%

7	Sydney Kings³	26	14	12	53.85%	4–1	W4	9–4	5–8	2821	2775	101.66%
8	Gold Coast Rollers³	26	14	12	53.85%	0–5	L6	8–5	6–7	2781	2805	99.14%
9	Brisbane Bullets	26	13	13	50.00%	2–3	W1	8–5	5–8	2912	2968	98.11%
10	Canberra Cannons⁴	26	9	17	34.62%	1–4	L1	7–6	2–11	2741	2781	98.56%
11	Southern Melbourne Saints⁴	26	9	17	34.62%	1–4	L2	6–7	3–10	2872	3094	92.82%
12	Hobart Tassie Devils	26	8	18	30.77%	1–4	L2	6–7	2–11	2811	3047	92.25%
13	Illawarra Hawks	26	6	20	23.08%	2–3	L1	4–9	2–11	3032	3196	94.87%
14	Newcastle Falcons	26	5	21	19.23%	2–3	W1	4–9	1–12	2803	3071	91.27%

Updated to match(es) played on 22 September 1991. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹Head-to-Head between Eastside Spectres and Geelong Supercats (1-1). Eastside Spectres won For and Against(+1).

²3-way Head-to-Head between Adelaide 36ers (3-1), Melbourne Tigers (2-2) and North Melbourne Giants (1-3).

³Head-to-Head between Sydney Kings and Gold Coast Rollers (1-1). Sydney Kings won For and Against (+8).

⁴Head-to-Head between Canberra Cannons and Southern Melbourne Saints (1-1). Canberra Cannons won For and Against (+44).

Finals

Main article: 1991 NBL Finals

Playoff bracket

Elimination Finals					Semifinals					Grand Final

					1	Perth Wildcats	102	105	X
4	Adelaide 36ers	129	132	X	4	Adelaide 36ers	99	104	X
5	Melbourne Tigers	115	96	X						1	Perth Wildcats	109	81	90
										2	Eastside Spectres	83	86	80
					2	Eastside Spectres	99	115	X
3	Geelong Supercats	139	116	113	6	North Melbourne Giants	93	104	X
6	North Melbourne Giants	119	136	125

There were two best of three Elimination finals, two best of three semifinals, and then best of three grand final series. All three of these finals were sudden death.

Elimination Finals

Date Home Score Away Venue Crowd Boxscore 25/09/1991 Geelong Supercats 139–119 North Melbourne Giants (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 25/09/1991 Melbourne Tigers 115–129 Adelaide 36ers (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 27/09/1991 North Melbourne Giants 136–116 Geelong Supercats (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 27/09/1991 Adelaide 36ers 132–96 Melbourne Tigers (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 29/09/1991 Geelong Supercats 113–125 North Melbourne Giants (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore

Semifinals

Date Home Score Away Venue Crowd Boxscore 4/10/1991 North Melbourne Giants 93–99 Eastside Spectres (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 5/10/1991 Adelaide 36ers 99–102 Perth Wildcats (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 10/10/1991 Perth Wildcats 105–104 Adelaide 36ers (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 11/10/1991 Eastside Spectres 115–104 North Melbourne Giants (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore

Grand Final

Date Home Score Away Venue Crowd Boxscore 19/10/1991 Eastside Spectres 83–109 Perth Wildcats (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 25/10/1991 Perth Wildcats 81–86 Eastside Spectres (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore 27/10/1991 Perth Wildcats 90–80 Eastside Spectres (({venue))} (({crowd))} boxscore

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Andrew Gaze	Melbourne Tigers	38.7
Rebounds per game	James Bullock	Newcastle Falcons	16.0
Assists per game	Butch Hays	Adelaide 36ers	9.0
Steals per game	Bobby Locke	Geelong Supercats	3.0
Blocks per game	John Dorge	Geelong Supercats	4.3
Free throw percentage	Leroy Loggins	Brisbane Bullets	91.1%

Clubs

Regular season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Ladder

Finals

Playoff bracket

Elimination Finals

Semifinals

Grand Final

1991 NBL statistics leaders

NBL awards

All NBL Team

References

#	Player	Team
PG	Ricky Grace	Perth Wildcats
SG	Andrew Gaze	Melbourne Tigers
SF	Scott Fisher	North Melbourne Giants
PF	Mark Davis	Adelaide 36ers
C	Mike Mitchell	Gold Coast Cougars