Two teams. A powerhouse - Perth.

An underdog - Wollongong.

History and logic say the title will go to Perth late tonight.

This is the 24th consecutive time the Wildcats have contested the NBL play-offs and they are shooting for a record fifth title. For them, success is not season by season, rather it is generational.

Playing at home before a pumped-up parochial crowd, Perth is certain to win the deciding clash, agree the experts. Yesterday, the betting markets - where the hype is boiled down to reality - had Wollongong paying $4.50 and Perth $1.20.

Wildcats coach Rob Beveridge - the man who doesn’t believe in fairytales - was trying to keep a lid on expectations.

"We’re a tight group and we will play together and give it our best shot,” he said yesterday. Deliberately restrained, but you sense the champagne is already on ice in the west.

Of course, this is the way it should be for the Hawks. This is a club with no culture of self-entitlement. It took “Captain Courageous” Campbell’s audacity to believe in the Power of One to save the club. To make it to the court “one more time”. To play competitive basketball in the “new NBL”. To inspire a city. To knock off Townsville in the semis, and heaven forbid, to make it to this point. To earn the right for a shot at the title.

Hawks coach Gordie McLeod says this story is special.

"It’s about a club that’s a foundation club, the only foundation club left in the NBL, and it’s about a passionate group of people who love their basketball and love their Hawks and they made a decision to fight to keep their team in,” he said.

But this epic season is reaching its conclusion. And it seems only fitting - for this is the way it should be - that between us and the biggest prize is our toughest mission yet.

Whether the Hawks can do it or not, we are about to find out. For now is the moment.

Our moment of truth.