The following are previews with betting tips for Round 12 of the 2018/19 NBL season.
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Thursday, January 3
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Cairns Taipans v Brisbane Bullets7:50pm AEDT |
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Still no luck for the luckless Taipans
15 Points was the margin as Cairns went down to Perth 93-78. The Taipans could not outscore Perth in any quarter as they went down by three, five, four and three points from Q1-Q4 respectively. Melo scored 14 points and DJ 13. While Hall, Walker, Jawai and Loughton had 12 points a piece. However despite their leading scoring efforts, Melo shot only 5/15 and DJ 5/11. Melo also only 1/5 from deep and DJ an even worse 1/6. Trimble also had two boards, four dimes and a steal. While Newbill pulled in five boards, dished out one assist and also stole the ball once.
Redemption for Brisbane
After losing a gripping affair to the Kings in Sydney they bounced back strongly to thrash the Hawks by a margin of 26 points, 100-74. The only period Brisbane lost was the fourth. However they put up 23, 28, 24 and 25 points in each of the quarters respectively. Patterson once again lit up the court as he hit 54.5% of his shots, good for 18 points. He also had six rebounds, four assists and a steal. Gliddon also scored 15, Cadee 11 and Bairstow 10. While of the bench both Vukona and Te Rangi starred with 14 and 12 points respectively. Gliddon also ended up with five boards and two dimes. Overall this was a real effort from the Bullets.
Betting tip: Cairns are really struggling this campaign, even with Melo & DJ leading the charge so as a result pick Brisbane to be victorious at $1.61 (BetEasy)
Friday, January 4
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Adelaide 36ers v New Zealand Breakers7:50pm AEDT |
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Conger does his battle cry
With just over 36 seconds left in the game he scored a dunk that would put them up by six points in the eventual 103-101 victory. The strong and fiery import ended his night with 15 points and four boards against Melbourne. While both Moore and Wiley led the way for the 36ers with 18 points each. Moore also had five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a swat. While Wiley had five boards, one dime, a steal and two blocks. But it wasn’t just them as Johnson scored 14, Sobey 13 and Deng 12. Adelaide won both the first and fourth quarters as they outscored Melbourne 30-22 and 28-19.
Breakers continue to slump
NZ went to 6-9 on the campaign as they slumped to yet another defeat. This time it was to Adelaide by 11 points, 109-98. Ili scored 19 and Wesley 10 as they were the only Breakers starters to score in double-figures. And their poor shooting most definitely shot them in the foot as Abercrombie scored only nine and went 3/7, Long 2/5, Richard 1/9, Wesley 4/9, Moore 1/4 and Webster 4/14. Off the bench all of Delany, Weeks and Webster made themselves felt with 18, 18 and 11 points respectively to really pop up the side. Delany also pulled in five boards as he went a perfect 6/6 from the court. NZ won only one quarter and that was the first as they prevailed 29-26.
Betting tip: Adelaide are fighting for a finals spot while NZ are crumbling at every twist and turn, this one is an easy pick with the 36ers to be victorious at $1.60 (Ladbrokes, TopBetta)
Saturday, January 5
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Illawarra Hawks v Sydney Kings2:50pm AEDT |
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Where to now for Illawarra?
Going down 100-74 to the Bullets has left them in a less than desirable position. Because of that they are now behind both Brisbane and Adelaide in the race for a finals spot as well as being two wins behind. It was a pretty bad night for them as they scored only 16 points in the 1st quarter, 14 in the 2nd and 15th in the 3rd. Pretty sub-standard stuff from a professional NBL franchise! Andersen had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Ogilvy also had 14 points along with six boards, two dimes, two steals and a swat. While both Jett and Grida had 10 points each. However both former MVP’s Jackson and Conklin were pretty horrible when putting the ball through the hoop as they combined for only 11 points on 4/16 shooting.
Bogut throws down the stats as well as the W!!!
The former NBA Champion and Golden State Warrior had to his name in the seven point W over Brisbane, 14 points, 12 boards, five dimes, one steal and four blocks as the big man propelled Sydney to the top of the ladder once again. While Randle went 2/3 from deep, good for 17 points, One of the NBL’s best in-form PG’s also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Kickert also scored 12 and Adnam 10. While it was a disappointing effort from captain Kevin Lisch as he went 0/3 from the court and had no assists either in 29 minutes of play, OUCH! Luckily for the Kings they managed to hold despite scoring only 13 points in the 4th quarter.
Betting tip: Back the captain and former Hawk Lisch to have a huge one against his former side and for Sydney to win in the process at $1.65 (UniBet)
Sunday, January 6
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New Zealand Breakers v Perth Wildcats12:20pm AEDT |
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Keeping true to their name, the Breakers are breaking
Put it this way, if it wasn’t for the simply horrible Taipans this campaign, guess who would be last? Yep you guessed it, the Breakers. Their season so far has been such a shame for a team that’s usually accustomed to competing for Championships as opposed to battling to avoid last place. Although to be fair, it’s not really a battle with the one win Taipans killing it. Long only put up five points and Richard six. While Abercrombie couldn’t crack double-digits with nine. Moore only scored two while Long, Richard and Wesley went a combined 0/8 from three! Pretty bad viewings. And the peak for NZ was giving up 29 points in the fourth quarter. Instead of closing the margin a little bit, they allowed the score to be added on to by the tiniest bit.
Perth keep on Perthing
Perthing, it’s not a word but it really should be. It should mean winning because barring a small slump recently that’s what they’ve been doing all campaign under Cotton, Kay, White & Co. White had 22 points as he strongly contributed to the 15 point blowout win over the Taipans. He also had four boards, five dimes and a swat. Kay also had 17, 5 and 4 as he again proves to be one of the signings of the off-season if he wasn’t already. And both Norton and Wagstaff also had 12 points each. The Wildcats are currently 2nd and are on track for yet another finals appearance, something this incredible franchise is renowned for.
Betting tip: This should be close but in the end Perth should prove to be to classy at $2.30 (Bet365)
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Brisbane Bullets v Melbourne United2:50pm AEDT |
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The Bullets fire late, but not enough to wound the five Kings
Whoever was on the court during the second-half for the Kings had to endure a stern Brisbane come-back. But it wasn’t quite enough as the Kings won by seven. The Bullets won both Q3 19-17 and Q4 14-13. Cadee couldn’t really turn it up against his former employers as he scored only eight points to go along with one rebound, one assist and one steal. However contrary to him both Patterson and Bairstow scored 17 points a piece in dominant performances from both players and both ex-NBA men. Brisbane won Q3 19-17 and Q4 14-13. The Bullets are currently battling both the 36ers and Hawks for that final finals spot.
Ware lights up the court, but the 36ers do enough to douse of his team mates.
Ware had 26 points, three rebounds, five assists and one steal. Goulding also had 16 and Boone 12. Besides them of the bench both Kennedy and Pledger scored 13 each. Goulding also had one board and three assists. While Boone’s stats included three rebounds and one assist. Kennedy also had five boards and five dimes. Melbourne won the 2nd quarter 31-26 and the 3rd 29-19. United are currently 3rd with 11 wins from 17 games and pretty much equal to both the Kings and Wildcats.
Betting tip: The Bullets pumped Melbourne when the two teams faced off last, expect some good old fashioned United revenge to see them claim the W, led by Ware at $1.80 (Ladbrokes)
Monday, January 7
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Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings7:50pm AEDT |
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14 & 1 Taipans, it’s all gone wrong yet again
They went down 93-78 to Perth. It doesn’t matter that it was Perth. The fact of the matter is that the Taipans have only one win this season and 14 defeats. Not the prettiest stats ever! Melo and DJ need more help. It’s as simple as that. And if both players remain in Cairns beyond this current campaign they’ll need exactly that, otherwise whats the point if you can’t even compete night in, night out? They have the worst ranked attack in the competition. Melo and DJ could only combine for 10/26 shooting but fair enough given that they are a huge chunk of their sides attack. While they put up only 18 and then 17 points in the 2nd quarter and then the 3rd.
Kings gonna be Kings
They moved back into 1st and showed the rest of the NBL what’s up in their 75 to 68 victory vs Brisbane. They scored 24 and 21 points in the first two quarters. However they dropped it off a bit in the second-half scoring only 17 and 13 points in the final two quarters. Bogut had a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. While Randle had 17 points and four rebounds. Newley was close with eight points and nine rebounds. Adnam hit two three-pointers en route to 10 points and Kickert scored 12 also hitting two from deep. Tugger Bowen also had seven.
Betting tip: Sydney are 1st, Cairns are last, this one ain’t all that easy to pick apart with the Kings to win easily at $1.48 (Ladbrokes)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet of the round is for the Kings to beat the Taipans at $1.48 (Ladbrokes). With Bogut’s defence at the rim and the raw scoring prowess of Randle, Kickert & Co they should prove far too much for Melo and his men!