The following are previews with betting tips for Round 13 of the 2018/19 NBL season.
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Thursday, January 10
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Illawarra Hawks v Adelaide 36ers7:50pm AEDT |
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Miracles do come true
The match was not supposed to end this way, but yet somehow it did. Illawarra pulled of the monumental W against the Kings, victorious by 78 points to 71 at the Gong. In what was Rob Beveridge’s 300th game as an NBL coach, his side certainly did not disappoint him, nor the enthralled home crowd. Their first two quarters set the tone for the game as they won them both, 17-15 and 19-11 respectively. Keeping the NBL leaders to 26 1st half points collectively is some mean feat! Leading the way for the Hawks, Coenraad hit three from deep for 18 points, he also had five boards. While Conklin hit 60% of his shots and made some late crucial FT’s for 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds, three dimes and a steal. Andersen also posted 11 points and among Ogilvy’s stats were seven boards and three swats. This was a game to remember from one of the NBL’s most spirited sides.
Sobey too good, but 36ers not good enough
Nathan Sobey posted a stat-line of 23 points, eight boards, five dimes and a steal in his sides eight point defeat to NZ. The 36ers won the opening two quarters. However in the 2nd and 3rd they conceded 29 points and 34 points respectively. That played a crucial part in the end result. Besides Sobey, Teys, Frolling and Moore all posted 14 points. Moore also had five rebounds, five assists and two steals next to his name. While Frolling went a perfect six/six from the line, as well as having pulled in five rebounds. Johnson also had nine points, six rebounds and one steal. As it stands Adelaide currently occupy fifth spot on the ladder and are only one win of the Bullets for a finals position.
Betting tip: This should be a closely fought match, but at the end of the day pick the 36ers to win at $2.17 (BlueBet)
Friday, January 11
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Sydney Kings v New Zealand Breakers7:43pm AEDT |
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Two former MVP’s, but one stood head and shoulders above his rival
Brian Conklin lit up the Kings for 17 points & 12 boards. Jerome Randle in comparison had a crucial TO in the 4th quarter and hit only 4/12 of his shot attempts to end the game with 13 points. That battle was one of many the Kings lost last round as they went down in a shock seven point upset to the flying Illawara Hawks. The kings were shown that no matter how much $$$ you have, you just can’t buy heart. Crucially for the Kings they scored only 15 in Q1 and just 11 in Q2. That right there played a massive, massive part in their defeat! Bogut ended the game with eight points, 19 rebounds, six assists, one steal and four blocks. While captain Lisch had 19 and hit some threes late in the game to keep the Kings in it. He also had two boards and one dime. Coming of the bench both Adnam and Bowen had seven points a piece.
In sixth spot and rising
NZ posted two wins last round. One of which was against Adelaide and the latter against Perth. They beat Perth by 13 to get themselves right back into the finals mix. They won every quarter but the first going 27-24, 26-13 and 24-20 in an awesome effort from them. Long hit 12/17 shots for 33 huge points! He also had six boards, a dime and a swat. While Wesley lit them up for 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a block. Besides the two stars of the show, Richard had 14 of the pine as he hit two three-pointers. And among Abercrombie’s stats were eight points and six boards. NZ now have eight wins on the campaign from 17 games.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to easily rebound and come out on top in this encounter at $1.58 (Neds)
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Perth Wildcats v Cairns Taipans9:53pm AEDT |
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The Wildcats are wounded
Perth went down to the Breakers 97-84, a game in which they really should have won given the talent disparity between the two sides. In Q3 Perth scored only 13 points, while they allowed the Breakers to score 26. This was massive for them in their defeat. Yet after the 1st quarter they held a seven point lead, but they just couldn’t quite go on with it. Cotton hit a huge six from deep, good for 27 points! While he also had four boards, one dime and two steals. White also scored 16 points to go along with his five assists. While besides those two, all of Kay, Vague and Norton had eight points each. Kay also had seven rebounds, two assists and one block. Perth despite their recent troubles still sit in 2nd on the ladder behind only the Kings.
Ain’t nothing sweeter then a Taipans win
Winning by 29 points, Cairns absolutely thrashed Brisbane in the process of only their second victorious game of the season. They killed it from every aspect and thoroughly deserved the convincing victory. Cairns lit up the score-line putting up 24, 28, 37 and 20 points in each quarter respectively. While they kept the Bullets to 17 points in the 3rd. Hall scored 24 while Jawai scored 18. Both Newbill and Trimble put up 13 each. And coming of the pine, Kenny scored 15. Hall also had five boards, six dimes and a steal. That while Jawai posted two rebounds and four assists. Newbill had three rebounds and six assists to go along with his two steals. This was a really, really sweet effort from the Taipans and one that showed they won’t throw the towel in for the rest of the season, but instead try and wreck it for every other finals aspiring side.
Betting tip: The Taipans, while they’re on the mend, should still prove to be no match for a strong Perth side, as a result pick the Wildcats to win at $1.43 (PalmerBet, BlueBet)
Saturday, January 12
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Adelaide 36ers v Brisbane Bullets2:50pm AEDT |
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Conger nothing but a little boy as Adelaide go down
Conger shot 1/11 and ended up with three points as his side went down 104-96 to the Breakers. Moore also only went 5/15 and Wiley 3/9. Doyle went 0/2 and Drmic 1/3. This wasn’t the best of games from the 36ers and it showed with some poor shooting performances. Conger’s especially was a what the hell type game! However Sobey scored 23, while despite some shooting woes all of Moore, Frolling & Teys had 14 points each. Conger did pull in eight rebounds, but he was costly in the defeat. While Deng had a nice game going 1/2, scoring six points and having two rebounds. And they allowed Long to destroy them for 28 points and 18 boards. The 36ers could only win the first two quarters and even then the opening quarter they won by only a point, 27-26.
The Bullets keep on firing
Getting any sort of result against Melbourne sure as hell ain’t easy. Yet Brisbane found a way to do it, beating them for the second time in recent weeks to the tune of a 95-86 score-line. They won the 2nd & 4th quarters in what proved crucial periods for their victory. During those times they scored 29 and 27 points respectively. Hodgson scored 17 and Gliddon 16. While Cadee scored 14 and Patterson 12. Bairstow also had nine and Te Rangi eight. Gliddon also got two dimes and two steals. And Cadee had three three-pointers along with three rebounds, nine assists and one steal. Patterson also had six boards, three dimes and two steals. As it stands, Brisbane currently occupy a finals position.
Betting tip: Beating United is no easy feat and the Bullets have done it twice in recent weeks, pick them to beat the 36ers at $2.25 (Sportsbet, PalmerBet, BlueBet, Neds, Ladbrokes)
Sunday, January 13
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Sydney Kings v Illawarra Hawks2:50pm AEDT |
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David vs Goliath
Similar to the famous Biblical battle, the Hawks were the massive underdogs in this one. And the ladder-leading Kings were similar to Goliath. Yet in Beveridge’s 300th game as an NBL coach, his side delivered him a huge victory. Sydney went down in defeat 78-71 in Woolongong in front of a packed out crowd. The Hawks won the first, 17-15. And then in the second they proved even stronger, winning in 19-11. The Kings won the third 26-24 to bring back the scores a bit. But they couldn’t deliver in the fourth, winning by a single point, thus resulting in the seven point defeat.
Conklin absolutely terrorized Sydney as he scored 17 along with 12 rebounds, three assists and one steal. Besides him, Coenraad led the Hawks with 18 points and five boards. Andersen also had 11 points and Blanchfield eight. While Blanchfield made some late FT’s under immense pressure to help seal the result. And for the losers, Andrew Bogut scored eight points. He also had 19 boards! That as well as six assists, one stealand four blocks. Lisch had 19 against his former side and Randle scored 13. Although he was strongly shutdown by the Illawarra defence shooting only 4/12 and 0/2 from beyond the arc.
Betting tip: It’s hard to imagine them losing twice in two rounds to the Hawks, especially if Bogut plays spectacularly again and Randle fixes his shooting, so pick the Kings to win at $1.52 (PalmerBet, BlueBet, Neds)
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Cairns Taipans v Melbourne United5:20pm AEDT |
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Terrorizing Taipans, not terrorized!
They claimed only their second victory of the current campaign as the blasted Brisbane 109-80. The game was never in doubt and Cairns were on absolute fire. Throughout each quarter they put up 24, 28, 37 and 20 points respectively. And the only quarter they didn’t win was the fourth which ended 20-all. Hall shot 6/8 from three, while Newbill went 2/3 from distance and Melo was 2/4. And Kenny was 3/3 from behind the arc. Hall led the way with 24 points and Jawai had 18. While DJ and Melo had 13 each. While of the pine, Kenny was an absolute beast with 15 points to his name.
A not so hot Melbourne get fired at by the Bullets
They went down to Brisbane 95-86 in what was the second time in recent rounds that Melbourne has fallen to Brisbane. Melbourne only won two quarters, the 1st and 3rd. And they were only by four and two points respectively. The opponents wanted it more then them in this one, it’s as simple as that! Ware led the way with a huge 29 points. however from beyond the arc he went all frozen as he hit only 3/12. He also had one rebound, two assists and one steal. McCarron also scored 12 and had four boards, five dimes and three steals. Both Goulding and Barlow also had 10 points a piece. That while of the bench Moller scored 11 points, pulled in seven boards and got a steal next to his name. United are currently 3rd on the ladder, yet there only two wins ahead of 5th placed Adelaide.
Betting tip: Why can’t Cairns cause the upset? They already did it one against Brisbane and pick them to do it again vs Melbourne at $2.45 (PalmerBet, Ladbrokes)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet of the round is for SYD to beat the Hawks. You just wouldn’t think it would happen twice in a row to the NBL’s NO.1 team. Choose them to be victorious at $1.52 (PalmerBet, BlueBet, Neds)