The following are previews with betting tips for Round 10 of the 2018/19 NBL season.
Compare NBL bookmaker odds
View the NBL form guide
View bookmaker NBL promotions (excludes NSW)
Thursday, December 20
 |
Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings7:50pm AEDT |
 |
Pre-game lead-up: Another game, another loss for Cairns as they slumped to an 11 point defeat at the hands of the Breakers. However the Kings were much more jubilant in their 15 point victory against Illawarra. Courtesy of a 20-19 Q1 win and a Q3 26-17 win the Taipans were on track for just their 2nd victory of the season. However they couldn’t quite hold on as they got handed the L. Melo was again a standout performer for the Taipans with 23 points, however he went 6/16 shooting. While DJ Newbill posted only 10 points on 3/10 shooting. Loe also went 3/9 and Walker 1/5. It was a bad, bad shooting effort from the NBL’s worst-ranked side. And for Sydney Q3 was where they really asserted themselves as they exploded for 26 points to further add to their lead heading into the fourth. Lisch scored 16, while both Newley and Wear had 13 each. And of the bench Kickert had 11. While Andrew Bogut was phenomenal with 10 points, 15 boards, two dimes and four blocks.
What should happen: You can’t see this game going any other way bar an easy victory to Andrew Gaze’s side. Cairns have won only one game all campaign and their second isn’t going to come against the League’s best defence. And the Taipans probably won’t be able to fix their recent shooting woes against the Kings either. Where they have Newbill and Trimble as their only real consistent scorers, the Kings can always have t least one of Randle, Lisch, Kickert, Bowen or Bogut to rely on. Things are about to get real ugly for the NBL’s whipping boys.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $1.45 (Ladbrokes)
Friday, December 21
 |
New Zealand Breakers v Illawarra Hawks5:20pm AEDT |
 |
Pre-game lead-up: The Breakers continued Cairns so far miserable campaign with a 89-78 victory. In Q2 NZ won 26-19, while they also were victorious in the fourth scoring 27 points and keeping the Taipans to only 17. While for the Hawks they again lost to the Kings going down in a 83-68 loss. Weeks had 17 points of the bench to go along with three rebounds, four assists and one block. While Long scored 16, both Ili and Abercrombie 14 and Wesley 11. Long also had a massive 13 boards and a swat. And Abercrombie shot a scorching hot 75% from the court, 6/8. The Hawks meanwhile couldn’t win a quarter as they put up only 17, 16, 21 and 14 points respectively. Blanchfield and Jett were the only Hawks players to post double-digit points with 12 each. Conklin and Grida also scored nine each. Conklin shot 2/8, Jackson 2/6, Ogilvy 1/6, Andersen 2/8, Coenraad 2/6 and Naar 1/5 in a shocking shooting performance from Illawarra. That heavily influenced the result of the game.
What should happen: Despite their recent games the Hawks have actually been a better side than the Breakers this season. The Hawks have stayed competitive in a lot of their matches and have had some surprising results given the depth of their squad compared to some others in the NBL. If former MVP Conklin can bounce back from an odd game off and both Blanchfield and Jett can produce more, like they normally do at 15.4ppg and 13.0ppg then Illawarra are more then capable of showing up big in this game and winning it.
Betting tip: Pick the Hawks to be victorious at $2.60 (Ladbrokes)
 |
Brisbane Bullets v Perth Wildcats7:50pm AEDT |
 |
Pre-game lead-up: Brisbane scored 91 points against the 36ers, but still went down by 10 points. That was while David Wear came up clutch and handed the Wildcats another defeat to Sydney in their one point loss. Brisbane only won one quarter but offensively they produced in it as they scored 30 points. And despite losing Q1 they still scored a nice 22 points. Patterson again went off as he hit three three’s for 24 points. While Bairstow closely followed him with 20 points. Cadee also had 12 and Hodgson 11. Patterson also had seven boards, six dimes and two steals. While another former NBA player in the form of Bairstow also put up seven rebounds and one assist. For Perth they won the first three quarters scoring 28, 27 and 23 points respectively. However a David Wear three-pointer with three seconds left on the clock after the conversion as well as a 10 point Q4 deficit saw them go down again to Sydney. Cotton only shot 8/18 but still scored 26 points and Kay 17. White also had 17 and Brandt 12. Norton scored 11 and Steindl 10. Cotton also had a huge six steals next to his name.
What should happen: Perth rebound. Over their past couple of games they had had a few losses, an un-usual norm for them this campaign. However they should be able to bounce back right into their groove against the Bullets. Say what you want but Perth should still be/are the favourites for this seasons NBL Championship. Cotton & Kay are there, one of the most dynamic scoring duos in the League. While Kay, Martin, Norton, White and Cotton on their day are top-notch facilitators for their team-mates. A team effort is what is required to beat Brisbane and a team effort is what will happen.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to be victorious at $1.80 (BlueBet, PalmerBet)
Saturday, December 22
 |
Adelaide 36ers v Cairns Taipans2:50pm AEDT |
|
Pre-game lead-up: The 36ers came up huge in their 101-91 W against Brisbane. They outscored the opposition 28-22 in Q1 and 31-21 in Q4. Sobey led the way for Adelaide with 24 points as well as six rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block. Johnson also scored 20 as well as eight boards and four dimes. And the other double-digit scorers were Drmic with 12, Conger with 10 and Deng with 10. As for the Taipans they went down 89-78 against NZ in what was their 11th loss from 12 games this campaign. In Q2 they were outscored by seven points and in Q4 it was 14 points. That cost them the game. However despite that Melo was his usual self scoring 23 points, Hall had 14 and Newbill 10. Melo also had two boards, six dimes and three steals. And for Hall he put up six rebounds and one assist. While DJ was doing a bit of everything (no pun intended) with two rebounds, three assists, three steals and one swat.
What should happen: Unfortunately for Cairns they are coming up against a squad that has some real fire-power in the likes of Conger (11.2ppg/ 5.0rpg), Johnson (16.9ppg/ 7.8rpg) and Sobey (17.4ppg/ 4.8apg). That’s without even including the likes of Drmic and Wiley who both also put up double-digit points per game. Then there’s Deng and Frolling as well who are capable of exploding at any time. The 36ers, despite what should be a resilient effort from Cairns, should be too good and too strong for the Taipans to handle.
Betting tip: Pick Adelaide to be victorious at $1.49 (UniBet)
Sunday, December 23
|
Sydney Kings v Melbourne United2:50pm AEDT |
 |
Pre-game lead-up: Sydney went 2/2 this round and currently sit in 2nd place, while Melbourne are in 3rd place and yet to feature this round. Besides Sydney’s win over the Hawks, David Wear was the hero in their one point W over Perth. That while Melbourne were thrashed by 16 points by Brisbane. The Kings lost every quarter against the Cotton & Kay led Wildcats. However a late Wear three and a 29 point fourth quarter saw them get the massive W. Wear hit a huge four three’s as he channeled his inner Thompson for 18 points, while he also had six boards and went 7/9 shooting from the court, 77.8%. Randle also had 22 and Lisch 14. And boy oh boy didn’t Kickert come of big of the bench with 18 points. Kickert to his credit also had three rebounds, three assists and a steal. In Melbourne’s loss they scored only eight points in Q3 and got ouscored 33-19 in Q4. Ware led the way with 22 points while Pledger had 13. However those were about the only positives for the reigning Champs in the shock upset loss.
What should happen: A close and tense battle with tonnes of amazing Basketball on display! Randle & Lisch vs Ware and Goulding. That’s three former MVP’s and just a bloke who’s averaging 13.0ppg this season and is an integral member of the Boomers. Then you have the block party that is Bogut vs Boone. And again Adnam coming up against his former side. Plus Moller doing the same thing. Then you also have Kickert and McCarron being the integral sixth men. All of these battles will have their moments and help make a superb game of Basketball.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $1.67 (UniBet)
|
Illawarra Hawks v Perth Wildcats5:20pm AEDT |
|
Pre-game lead-up: 15 points is how much the Hawks lost to the Kings by for their second defeat at their hands this campaign, however NBL 18/19 is so close and tough that they remain only a single win of a finals berth. Andersen and Coenraad both scored four points each. Jackson and Ogilvy scored five each. Conklin couldn’t even reach double-digits, while not could Grida. Even Blanchfield and Jett had only 12 a piece. No one Hawk was able to step up to the plate and deliver in the very disappointing loss. And Q4 was where they saved the worst for last as they scored only 14 points during the period and conceded 21. For Perth their 98-97 loss against the Kings represents only their third loss of the season. However it was their second playing Sydney. Cotton only shot 8/18, White 6/15, Martin 0/4 and Wagstaff 0/3. Had they made a couple more shots we could be looking at a completely different outcome, but oh well for them. Conceding 29 points in the fourth is what essentially cost them the W.
What should happen: This game shouldn’t really be close, but the Hawks are fighting for a Top Four berth so it will be. Blanchfield (15.4ppg), Conklin (14.9ppg) and Jett (13.0ppg) will all have to play massively to help lift the Hawks to a victory. And as they’ve shown this year, they are more than capable of scrapping it out with the NBL’s best. They have a fighting spirit in them being one of the NBL’s lesser resourced teams and expect that to be on full display as they work their way to one of the biggest upset W’s of the season.
Betting tip: Pick Illawarra to be victorious at $2.45 (Ladbrokes)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet of the round is for ADL to beat Cairns at $1.49 (UniBet), the Taipans are struggling this season and Sobey, Conger & Co should be able to take advantage of that!