1:45 pm - (1) Nets vs (4) Warriors
The first of two spicy regular season matchups pits the top-seeded Nets (10-2) against the fourth-seeded Warriors (7-5) at 1:45 pm. These two teams squared off back in Week 5, with the Nets winning 61-46. The game was as tense and emotionally-charged as any game of the entire regular season, as friends quickly turned into enemies, in the midst of one of the league's biggest rivalries. Both Mook Lawrence and Latrell Tidwell were ejected from the game, as neither team played with their full lineup in the second half. Despite 20 points from Tyree Mosley, the Warriors struggled to score the ball with Tidwell out, as their 46 points was a season low on offense. The Warriors will be up against the Nets' top-ranked defense again on Sunday, as well as Martavias Laster, who will play on Championship Sunday. Laster lost his jersey following the Nets' Week 11 OT loss against the Spurs, which kept him out of the Nets' quarterfinal game against the Bulls. Laster has since found his jersey, and will look to match his 28-point performance that he had in the Nets' win over the Warriors in the regular season. While the Nets certainly have the deeper team, and have a bit more experience across the board, the Warriors have some star power of their own. Tyree Mosley (21.6 ppg), Latrell Tidwell (14.1 ppg), and Quon Shaw (11.7 ppg) form a very dangerous trio, that will look to push the Nets, as they did in the first half of their contest back in Week 5. Shaw was key in the Warriors' 77-58 quarterfinal win over the Heat, scoring 22 points, to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Tidwell was a monster on the glass in that game, finishing with 17 rebounds, in addition to 10 points. Leading scorer Tyree Mosley had 14 points, but will look to take a lot more than 13 shots against the Nets on Sunday, as he has continued to shoot the ball well in the second half of the season. While the Warriors have a fairly big size advantage, the Nets have proven time and time again that they can beat bigger teams, even without a true big man of their own. They confirmed this in a gritty 74-71 win over the Bulls in the quarterfinals. Despite going up against Seth Johnson, Nick Crowe, and Bobby Crivokapich, the Nets only lost the rebounding battle by five, 28-23. Mook Lawrence had his best game of the season in their quarterfinal win, scoring 26 points and grabbing six rebounds, despite battling foul trouble for most of the game. Ronnie Jackson had 22 points, a season-high, and Maurice Terrell had 13 points, as both players continue to contribute off the bench in remarkable ways. Watch out for Martavias Laster (21.9 ppg) and Sammie Hines (15.2 ppg) to have big games of their own, in what should be one of the more anticipated semifinal matchups in league history. The victor takes on the winner of the Suns and Rockets in the championship game at 4:15 pm.
3:00 pm - (6) Suns vs (7) Rockets
The battle of the brothers, part two, sees the sixth-seeded Suns (8-5) and the seventh seeded Rockets (7-6) face off at 3:00 pm. While many people thought the Suns may upset the third-seeded Lakers in the quarterfinals, pretty much no one, outside of the Rockets' camp, had Antonio Marshall's team making it to the Final Four. Behind Marshall's 37 points, the Rockets took out the three-time defending champion Spurs 75-72, to create some unexpected chaos in the bottom half of the bracket, and to ensure that K1 would have a champion not named the Spurs for the first time in league history. The road will not get any easier for the Rockets, as Ryan Kvasnicka's loaded Suns team will be waiting. The Suns defeated the Lakers 87-76 in the quarterfinals, in the first of three straight outstanding games to end the day. In addition to having a pretty big size advantage, the Suns may also have a pair of fresh legs from IU Northwest, in Jared Johnson and Vashawn Sims. If the Suns have both of these guys, they may be the odds on favorite to walk out of the gym with a trophy on Sunday. Reigning MVP Ryan Kvasnicka can hold on to that title for a few more days, and he has done so quite well this season, nearly averaging a double-double, as he sits at 22.9 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. All eyes will be on how Ryan and his brother Jay matchup against Antonio and his brother Harry, after the two sets of brothers got into an ugly altercation in their Week 9 affair, causing their game to be called off in the middle of the first half. Both fans and K1 Staff will certainly be hoping for a full 40 minutes of basketball on Sunday, as both these teams are good enough to go all the way to the winner's circle, despite being seeded outside the top four. The Suns have the number one offense in the K1 League at 83.1 ppg, as seven different players average double figures. Kvasnicka's 22.9 ppg leads the way, with Vashawn Sims (18.8 ppg) and Jamir Hinds (16.6 ppg) not too far behind. Jared Johnson (15.8 ppg) is the K1 League leader in assists, at 5.5 dimes per game. Phil Andrade (13.7 ppg), John Oliver (12.0 ppg), and Jay Kvasnicka (10.5 ppg) all average double figures as well. While the Rockets seem to be in big trouble on paper, they do have the league's leading scorer in Antonio Marshall (29.1 ppg), who did not score fewer than 20 points in a game during the regular season. His brother Harry is second in scoring at 10.8 ppg, while Hunter Jacobs is third at 10.2 ppg, and has done a good job on the interior for the Rocketz. The two teams definitely play a bit different brand of basketball, as the Suns work from the inside out, and the Rockets play at one of the slowest paces in the entire K1 League, as they run pretty much everything through the Marshall brothers. The Rockets will need their entire team present on Sunday, and they will have to find a way to guard the post without consistently fouling. If the Rockets can find a way to hold their own on the interior, they will look to Antonio Marshall to close the game out in crunch time. However, if Ryan Kvasnicka and his team's high-powered offense has its way, especially in the paint, the Rockets' ship may run out of fuel quickly. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the Nets and Warriors in the championship game at 4:15 pm.
4:15 pm - Championship
In Week 2, the Nets defeated the Suns 77-67
In Week 3, the Rockets defeated the Nets 59-55 in OT
In Week 8, the Warriors defeated the Rockets via forfeit
In Week 11, the Suns defeated the Warriors 95-77