New Zealand have clinched the NBL minor premiership, but the scramble for the other finals places continues with the Queensland teams showing plenty of fight.
A 91-76 away win over lowly Adelaide (8-17) means defending champions New Zealand (19-6) cannot be tipped out of top spot with two rounds to go.
They will enjoy home advantage through the finals, but the order behind the Breakers still has to be established.
Third-placed Gold Coast (15-10) lost a chance to push for second spot, by going down 88-76 at Townsville (15-11), who are fourth.
Centre Luke Schenscher scored 25 points and Peter Crawford 20 for the Crocs in a game that also featured a final-quarter scuffle involving players and coaches after Schenscher and Blaze guard Adris Deleon had to be pulled apart.
Two technical fouls were awarded, but by Sunday afternoon the NBL had not indicated they would look at the incident.
"It was just two teams playing intense basketball, there was no big deal," Crocs' coach Paul Woolpert told AAP.
"It was just two teams playing physical and it didn't get out of hand at all."
Gold Coast had an 11-point first-quarter lead wiped out by halftime and the Crocs seized control with a 14-0 third quarter run.
It was a vital victory for Townsville, who face the toughest run home of the finals aspirants, travelling to Perth and hosting the Breakers.
"If you want to win a championship, you have to beat good teams and obviously we're going to play the best two teams in the league," Woolpert said.
"We looked at last night's game as a playoff game. In order to make the playoffs we had to have a playoff mentality and the next two games are the same thing.
"It's pretty close to do or die."
In Adelaide, the Breakers had a nine-point quarter-time lead wiped out in the second quarter, but took control after halftime.
NZ shot at 52 per cent form the field, with Tom Abercrombie tallying 22 points and Gary Wilkinson 21.
Sydney (10-16) recorded their third win this season over NSW rivals Wollongong (6-19), triumphing 92-81 on the Hawks pine.
The Kings had a 19-point lead in the third quarter cut to three, but shot 52 per cent from the field and an extraordinary 71 per cent from three-point territory.
Jerai Grant scored 20 and Anatoly Bose 19 for Sydney, with Larry Davidson hitting a game-high 24 for the Hawks.
Perth (17-9) consolidated second spot and dealt a blow to the playoff hopes of Cairns (14-12) with a convincing 94-59 home win over the Taipans.
