The following are previews with betting tips for Round 16 of the 2018/19 NBL season.
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Friday, February 1
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New Zealand Breakers v Melbourne United5:20pm AEDT |
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In United’s last game oh boy didn’t they turn it on in their 114-91 victory over Adelaide. Melbourne put up 31 points in Q1 while keeping the 36ers to just 20 in reply. However, in the 2nd quarter Melbourne only scored 17. They then bounced back to score 34 and 32 respectively while keeping Adelaide to just 16 points in the fourth. United are currently 1st as a result of that and are on track for another strong finish to end the season. Boone led the way with 19 points on 9/12 shooting along with 10 boards, three dimes, two steals and four swats! And each of Kennedy, McCarron, Ware and Goulding put up an impressive 16 points each. Ware was only able to hit 2/10 from deep but he also had two rebounds and nine assists. While Kennedy was also very strong as well as he ended up with nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block.
New Zealand’s last game saw them keep their faint, faint finals hopes alive with a much needed 13 point win over Brisbane. The Breakers outscored the Bullets 26-18 in Q1. And in Q2 they put up 30 points. Q3 they won 23-22. While in Q4 they again were hot offensively as they scored 30 points and kept Brisbane to only 23. New Zealand are currently only two wins of a finals spot. Starters Long and Webster scored 23 and 10 points respectively. Long shot 8/14 as he also had six boards, two dimes, three steals and two swats. Then coming of the bench there were some major, major performances as Weeks had 20, Delany 17 and Richard 16. Delany also got four rebounds, five assists and a steal and a block each. While Richard had 10 boards and three dimes to his name as well.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to win at $1.71 (Ladbrokes)
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Brisbane Bullets v Sydney Kings7:43pm AEDT |
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Brisbane’s last match was a disappointing 109-96 defeat to the Breakers. In the process they gave an un-needed leg up to one of their main finals contenders. Patterson led the way with 18 points as he scored nearly a point a minute to go along with five boards, two dimes, two steals and one swat. Gliddon scored 16 as he shot 5/8 and he also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hodgson also scored 14 starting for Brisbane. While coming of the pine Te Rangi was solid as he scored 14 points as well. He did that while hitting two threes and also having seven rebounds and a steal. Gibson also scored eight while both Kendle and Vukona had seven points. Brisbane were only able to put up 18 points in the first quarter. However, it was a big bounce back in the 2nd as they scored 33 points! In the 3rd they lost by a point, 23-22. And in the 4th they simply didn’t do enough as they scored 23, yet leaked 30.
The Kings woeful run continued as their slide from 1st to 3rd was confirmed in their horrible 20 point loss to Perth as they got spanked at home. The Kings could only manage 68 points in total in what was a garbage performance by them. They actually won the 1st quarter 23-20. However in the 2nd that’s basically where they lost the game as they could only put up eight points and they conceded 27 in reply. They then only scored 14 in the 3rd. And the 4th they did win 23-20 but it simply wasn’t enough as yet another big team thrashed them. Both Bogut and Randle had 11 points each. While Kickert had nine and Adnam seven. Randle also had four boards, two dimes and three steals. Bogut also hit all three of his FT’s and had eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. And Turner was pretty impressive in under eight minutes of play! He had eight points, two boards and a steal as he shot 4/5. Give him more time Gazey!
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to win at $2.05 (PalmerBet)
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Perth Wildcats v Illawarra Hawks9:53pm AEDT |
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88-68 Was the score as Perth showed Sydney whats up and moved back into 2nd spot on the ladder in the process. It wasn’t easy at first as they lost Q1 23-20. However they bounced back in a big way in Q2 as they killed of the game by a score-line of 27-8. In Q3 they were again strong as victors winning 21-14. And in Q4 they lost by three points. But the damage was already done and boy oh boy didn’t they destroy their competition! Both Cotton and Kay had 16 points each while White scored 13. Steindl also had 18 of the bench and Wagstaff 11. Kay converted 5/6 two-point attempts as he also had 10 boards, seven dimes and a steal. White also had four rebounds and one assist. And Steindl was lethal as he shot 54.5% from the court to go along with his two boards and three dimes. Perth are back and they are challenging alright!
The Hawks now sit just one win of a finals berth after they beat Cairns 82-81 in a tight, tight affair. And Ogilvy’s two-pointer with around 1.5 minutes left is what got them the eventual W. The Hawks lit it up in the 1st as they scored 34 points. However, they then came back into reality in the 2nd as they were only able to score 16 points. And 16 was the number they then put up in the 3rd and 4th quarters as well. However, they kept Cairns to only 19 in the 2nd and 15 in the 4th. Conklin led the way for Illawarra with 15 points. That’s while both Andersen and Blanchfield had 11 points each and Jackson 10. Conklin shot 6/11 as he also had eight boards, two dimes and a steal. Andersen also had six rebounds, one steal and three swats. And Blanchfield hit a three en route to four boards, a dime and a swat. Coming of the bench, Ogilvy and Coenraad scored nine points a piece.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to win at $1.33 (BlueBet, PalmerBet)
Saturday, February 2
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Cairns Taipans v Adelaide 36ers2:50pm AEDT |
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A missed Melo three in the games dying seconds meant that Cairns would leave Canberra with a one point loss to the Hawks hanging over their heads. They’ve been strong recently but it wasn’t enough against a finals desperate Illawarra side. They lost Q1 by 12 points, 34-22. However, for the next three straight quarters they would keep the Hawks to only 16 points in each one. Yet putting up 19, then 25, then 15 wasn’t enough as their 2nd and 3rd quarter scoring rates played a significant factor in their tight loss. Melo led the way for the Taipans with 24 points while DJ had 17. Both Hall and Walker also had 10 points a piece. Melo’s 24 was also backed up by five boards, three dimes and two steals. Newbill also had two rebounds, five assists and two steals next to his name. Hall got three rebounds, a dime and a swat in addition to his 10 points. And coming of the pine all of Kenny, Kuany and Loe scored six points each.
23 Points was the margin as Adelaide were smashed by Melbourne on Monday night. It wasn’t pretty for the 36ers as they gave up 31 points in Q1 and only scored 20 themselves. In the 2nd they bought it back by winning 28-17. However, the 3rd saw them lose again 34-27. And the 4th was unfortunately the icing on the cake for Melbourne as they pumped them 32-16. As a result the 36ers are now in 5th spot and if the season were to end tomorrow, they would not be playing finals Basketball. Sobey led the way for Adelaide with 24 huge points! He also hit two threes and had two boards, three dimes and two steals. While Johnson had a nice 15 in addition to his six rebounds, two assists and steal and block each. And of the bench McVeigh scored 11 points, had nine boards and two assists. Deng was also solid with 7pts, 7rebs, 1as and 1st.
Betting tip: Pick Adelaide to win at $1.67 (Ladbrokes)
Sunday, February 3
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Melbourne United v New Zealand Breakers2:50pm AEDT |
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Before Melbourne’s demolition job of Adelaide, they played the Hawks in the rounds opening game. And it was pretty easy goings for them as they won by 24 points and scored 113 themselves. They won every single quarter bar the 4th. In the 1st they put up 27 points and kept the Hawks to 20. In the 2nd they scored 31. In the 3rd they thrashed them by 20, 27-17. And the 4th was the won they went down in, 22-18. So many players scored in double-figures for United in this match. Ware had 25, McCarron had 17, Kennedy had 17, Barlow had 15, Goulding had 13, Pledger had 10 and Boone had 10. Kennedy also had 13 boards, four dimes and a steal and a block each. Boone shot 55.6% as he pulled in 12 boards and dished out two assists. And Ware channeled some inner Klay Thompson as he went 3/5 from deep and also had two rebounds and four assists.
And before the Breakers strong win over the Bullets, they beat the Taipans by seven points in a thrilling and tight affair. From Q1 through to Q4 respectively they put up 30, 28, 24 and 31 points. However, their defence was also very leaky as in turn they gave up 26, 25, 21 and 34 points respectively. But it did not matter as they got the W and New Zealand were 2/2 this round in a massive boost to what were previously fading quickly finals hopes. Long had a massive 32 points! As he shot 12/18 from the court. He also had nine boards, three dimes and four swats. Wesley also scored 16 as he was impressive with six rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and one block. Ili also scored 11 as he shot 4/6 to go along with his three rebounds and one steal. And coming of the bench Delany had 12, Weeks had 12 and Moore had 11. Great game all round from the Breakers.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to win at $1.44 (Bet365)
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Sydney Kings v Brisbane Bullets5:20pm AEDT |
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Before Sydney were thrashed by Perth, their other game of the round was a nice six point victory over the Bullets. Every quarter was tight and tense but Sydney pulled it out in the end for a much needed win. Q1 ended 24-23 in Brisbane’s favour. Q2 ended 24-22 in Sydney’s favour. Q3 ended 22-19 in Sydney’s favour. And Q4 ended 18-16 in Sydney’s favour. Bogut had 20 points, Randle 15 and Lisch 12. And of the bench Kickert was huge with 17! Bogut also had seven boards, four dimes and three swats. And Kickert shot a perfect 6/6 from the court to go along with his three rebounds and one assist. And Randle was playing like the former MVP that he is as in addition to his 15 points, he also had six rebounds, seven assists and one steal. This will be the second time that the Kings face the Bullets this round and perhaps this is just what they need to snap back into winning ways, to face a side who they recently beat.
As for Brisbane, they went 0/2 this round as before their loss to New Zealand was their loss to the Kings by six points. Brisbane could only win Q1 and after that they lost every single other quarter. They scored 24 in the 1st. They scored 22 in the 2nd. They could only put up 19 in the 3rd. And they saved their worst for last by putting up only 16 in the 4th. Bairstow lit it up with 23 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal and a block each. While Patterson was pretty good as well with numbers of 21 points, eight boards, four dimes and a steal. While Te Rangi had 15 points of the bench along with a rebound and an assist. Gliddon also scored eight points.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to win at $1.62 (PalmerBet, BlueBet)
Monday, February 4
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Illawarra Hawks v Cairns Taipans7:50pm AEDT |
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Before the Hawks win over the Taipans they were dismantled by Melbourne to the tune of 24 points. They scored only 20 in Q1. However, they bounced back strongly in the 2nd to score 30. But again it was back to normal in Q3 as they were beaten thoroughly by 20 points, 37-17. And they were strong enough to claim the 4th as that was the only quarter they won, 22-18. Blanchfield led the way for the Hawks with 22 points. While, Conklin, Jackson and Ogilvy had 10 points each. Blanchfield hit three from deep as he also had one rebound, two assists and a steal. Jackson pulled in six rebounds, dished out three dimes, stole the ball from the opposition three times and had one swat as the former MVP had himself a very nice game indeed. Ogilvy had seven rebounds, one assist and three blocks.
In the match before Cairns tight and possibly un-lucky one point defeat to the Hawks, they were in another tight game as the Breakers beat them by seven points. Cairns lost every quarter bar the 4th, but every quarter was hotly and closely contested. Cairns lost the 1st 30-26. They also lost the 2nd 28-25. The 3rd they went down 24-21. However, the 4th they won 34-31. Newbill was on fire with 32 points and the same for Melo with 31. That was while Walker had a nice 16. DJ hit five from beyond the arc as he also had one rebound, two assists and a steal. Melo had four rebounds, six assists and two steals. And as for Walker in the closely contested match he ended up with nine rebounds in addition to his strong 16 points.
Betting tip: Pick Illawarra to win at $1.60 (Ladbrokes)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet of the round is for Perth to win at $1.33 (BlueBet, PalmerBet) vs the Hawks, they’re coming of a 20 point smashing of Sydney so why shouldn’t they beat a side significantly lower then them in the rankings?