The Saskatchewan Rattlers will jockey for playoff position on Friday night at Verdun Auditorium in Montréal in a matchup with the Alliance at 7:30 ET.  It’s the final game of the regular season for Saskatchewan, with Montréal travelling to Ottawa for one more showdown on Monday. 

The Rattlers enter the game in sixth place in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) standings at 10-9 with a playoff spot clinched, while the Montréal Alliance enter at 4-14, eliminated from playoff contention.  Saskatchewan are in a tight race with Edmonton, Scarborough and Fraser Valley for playoff seeding. 

Scarborough and Fraser Valley sit third and fourth in the standings at 11-8 while Edmonton sits in fifth at 10-9. Fraser Valley and Edmonton will play each other on Saturday afternoon with Fraser Valley 1-0 with a 3 point advantage head-to-head this season. 

There is a scenario in which there could be a four-way tie at 11-9 that would revert to overall plus/minus as a tiebreaker. Scarborough would need to lose to Newfoundland, Edmonton would need to defeat Fraser Valley, and Saskatchewan would need to defeat the Alliance. 

However, the Rattlers have a mountain to climb with their current plus/minus. They sit at -94 in last place of those four teams, with a 70 point difference between them and Fraser Valley at -24. Heading into the final game, each team is separated by more than 30 points in plus/minus, so there would need to be some major blowouts to change the standings drastically. 

Saskatchewan’s Tony Carr will look to cap off what could be an MVP season in Friday’s contest against Montréal. Carr enters the game as the league leader in assists per game and is in the top five in points per game and three-point percentage. He’s averaging 19.9 points per game, 6.6 assists per game, and 6.3 rebounds per game on 45.7 per cent shooting from the field and 41.7 per cent from three. 

The Rattlers will also search for contributions from Devonte Bandoo, Malik Benlevi and Jordy Tshimanga. Bandoo is putting together a stellar campaign that has the Mississauga native in the conversation for Canadian Player of the Year. He’s averaging 16.1 points per game on 44.3 per cent from the field and 43.2 per cent from three while leading the league in three-pointers made. Meanwhile, Benlevi is averaging 10.7 points per game on 40 per cent from the field and 35.8 per cent from three. Tshimanga is the biggest interior presence for the Rattlers, averaging 7.3 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game and 1.3 blocks per game. 

For Montréal, Nathan Cayo enters as their leading scorer with 12.7 points per game and their leading rebounder at 4.7 per game. Isiah Osborne is the lone other active Montréal player averaging double-figures at 10.7 points per game.  Montréal Alliance tickets are available at https://www.alliancemontreal.ca/en-ca/tickets. 

Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change. 

The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.