Wednesday, 25 July 2012:

The NBL season will open in October with a grand final rematch between the New Zealand Breakers and Perth Wildcats.

A revised NBL schedule has been released following the withdrawal of the Gold Coast Blaze due to financial reasons with the champion Breakers hosting the first game of the eight-team competition, on October 5.

In a later game that night old foes the Sydney Kings and Wollongong Hawks will clash at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

The other two opening round matches remain unchanged from the previously released fixture, with the Townsville Crocodiles visiting arch-rivals the Cairns Taipans on Oct 6, while the Melbourne Tigers, under new head coach Chris Anstey, travel to face the Adelaide 36ers on Oct 7.

Clubs will play 28 home-and-away games during the regular season with each team playing each other four times.

The top four teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the 2012 NBL Finals, which are expected to commence on March 29 next year.

The best-of-three grand final series will be played in mid-April.

In other news, the Sydney Kings have announced they've signed American-born Kevin Smith to finalise their playing roster.

Smith joins the Kings as a local-based player having acquired New Zealand residency during his time playing in the New Zealand NBL where he had stints with the Bay Hawks, Auckland Pirates and the Harbour Heat.

AAP