The following are previews with betting tips for Round 19 of the 2019/20 NBL season.
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Friday, February 7
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Brisbane Bullets v New Zealand BreakersNissan Arena 7:30pm AEDT |
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Last RD- Brisbane are on the verge of a finals berth as they currently occupy 4th spot with a 14 wins and 11 losses record. They’re just one win of the 3rd placed Taipans, one win ahead of the Breakers and a two-game gap exists between them and United. Their last game was a clutch, four-point, 87-83 win over Melbourne. A game in which they bettered their finals chances and damaged their opponents, all in the one game. Brisbane won q’s 1, 2 and 3, 21-17, 25-21 and 24-15. They were outdone in the 2nd, 30-17. But they held on strong for the W. Patterson had a BIG 31PTS, while Hodgson posted 14 and Sobey 13. Magnay had 7PTS, while both Cadee and Vukona had 6 each of the bench, Patterson shot 11/19, as he also had 12REB, 5AST and 2STL next to his name. Sobey shot a dreadful 1/7 from deep, as his other stats included 2AST. Hodgson on the other hand was much, much better as he shot 7/12 and had 14REB, 2AST and 2BL. Cadee shot 3/6 and Vukona 3/5 from the floor.
The Breakers are impressively now just one win out of a finals spot as they currently have occupied 5th spot on the ladder, as it’s all theirs. Through 26 games so far, they have a 13-13 record. Their last match ended in rather unusual circumstances as with a little over 3 minutes left to play at the Win Entertainment Centre against the Hawks, their game was abandoned due to a roof leakage dripping onto the court that could not be fixed. At the time, the score was 65-52 in New Zealand’s favor and as such, that is how that controversial affair ended. It counts as a Breakers win. Q4 wasn’t played, Q1 ended 30-14 in New Zealand’s favor. Q2 ended in a 20-20 draw. And what was played of Q3, the Hawks slightly won, 18-15. Henry had 17PTS, Delany 16, Hopson 12 and Loe 10. Ashley posted 6PTS of the pine. Henry shot 6/8, as he also got 2REB and 2AST. Delany shot a perfect 5/5, as his other stats included 5REB, 1AST and 1BL. Hopson also got 4REB, 9AST and 1STL next to his name. And Loe had 3REB, 1AST and 2BL.
Key Player- Patterson. Patterson. Patterson! The man is arguably the best player from either side in this one. He’s played in the NBA, is an MVP candidate for this season and is clutch as hell. What else could you possibly ask for? This season he’s scoring 21.6PPG, while shooting 47.0% from the field. He’s also hit 44 shots from deep this campaign. as he has the 4th best shooting percentage in that regard on his team (35.2%). In his last game vs NZL, he posted 21PTS, 9REB and 8AST, with a near triple-double. And over his last four games he’s put up, 31, 29, 27 and 20PTS. Watch him go all beast mode vs the Breakers as he tries to secure his side a finals spot.
Betting tip: Pick the Bullets to win at $1.42 (Bet365)
Saturday, February 8
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Melbourne United v Illawarra HawksMelbourne Arena 5:30pm AEDT |
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Last RD- Melbourne are unlikely to feature in the NBL finals this season as they currently sit in 6th spot on the ladder. They have 12 wins and 13 defeats through 25 played games this campaign. They’re one win of the 5th placed Breakers and two of the crucially 4th placed Bullets. It would take a miracle for them to feature in the post-season this year. The only q they won was the 2nd, a BIG 30-17. Outside of that, they lost every other q. Those scores being 21-17, 25-21 and 24-15. This was a HUGEEE and monumental blow to their quickly-fading finals hopes. Melo had a MASSIVE 36PTS of the bench. He was strongly backed up by Long with 15 and Acuil with 10. Kidd also had 8PTS and Goulding 7. Melo hit 5 3’s as he also got 3REB, 6AST and 2STL. Long hit 60% of his shots, as he pulled in 9 boards, had 2STL and 1BL. Acuil hit both his FT attempts, as he also had 5REB, 1AST and 1STL. Kidd shot just 2/6 and Goulding an even worse 2/9.
Illawarra have participated in 26 games this season. 5 They have won. 21 They have lost! 21! They’ve had a dreadful campaign up until this pointy end of the season. And on the weekend it got much, much worse. Late into the 3rd quarter their game against the Breakers was forced to be abandoned due to a leak from the roof at the Win Entertainment Centre (their home court), coming onto the floor and it couldn’t be stopped. The win was awarded to New Zealand as the score-line stood at 65-52 in the oppositions favor. This unprofessional-ism has forced some fans into them venting on social media as to why the Hawks are even allowed to play in the NBL when stuff like this happens. Q1 ended 30-14 in NZ’s favor. Q2 was a 20-20 draw. What was played of Q3, the Hawks won 18-15. And obviously Q4 was not allowed to be played. Boone had 14PTS and Blanchfield 11. Naar also had 7 and Coenraad 6. Boone shot 70% from the floor as he also had 3REB and 1STL next to his name. Blanchfield hit two from beyond the arc, as he got 1REB, 2AST and 1BL also on his stats-sheet.
Key Player- Melo. He’s averaging 19.7PPG and 4.8APG this season. Just looking at those stats alone and nothing else, they seem fine enough. But he’s the marquee, highly-paid man for United, who has drastically under-performed this season. He should break through in this one and break through BIG at that, as he attempts to put some pride back into his clubs jersey. With everything on the line last round vs BRI, he put up a huge 36PTS. Two games before that, he scored 26 against SYD, Before that, vs the Breakers, he had a nice stat-line of 12PTS, 4REB, 5AST and 2STL. Expect that Trimble to shine through and not the crumby, selfish one.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to win at $1.10 (BlueBet, SportsBet, Bet365 and UniBet)
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Adelaide 36ers v Cairns TaipansAdelaide Entertainment Centre |
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Last RD- Adelaide are just playing for pride now as they sit in 7th spot on the NBL ladder. They have 12 wins and 14 losses so far this season. They cannot make the finals as they seek towards the future and next season. However, that didn’t stop them from having some fun on Sunday night as they beat the Phoenix 100-93 at home. Adelaide won q’s 1 and 4, 32-19 and 29-24. They lost the middle two, 27-22 and 23-17. Randle posted a season-high 35PTS, while Johnson had 22. Griffin had 13PTS, Teys 7 and all of Drmic, Froling and McVeigh had 6 each. Randle converted 14/24 shots, good for 58.3% shooting, in addition to 7REB and 4AST. Johnson shot 8/20 and hit a pair of 3’s, as he also had 5REB, 1AST, 1STL and 2BL. Griffin had 9REB, 4AST and 2BL. And Teys shot 37.5% from the floor as he had 7REB, 6AST and 1STL.
Cairns are currently 3rd on the ladder. They have 15 wins and 10 defeats so far this season. They’re two wins behind 2nd placed Perth. Yet they also sit one win ahead of 4th placed Brisbane and two ahead of the 5th placed Breakers. Barring a major, late, un-expected collapse, the Taipans will be playing finals Basketball this season. Their latest efforts saw them thrash the Hawks by 24 points, 99-75. The 4th they lost, 18-14. But they won every single other one, 23-17, 34-23 and 28-17. Newbill had 20PTS, Oliver 17, Deng and Machado 12, Blagojevic 10, Djeric 9 and Jawai 6. Newbill shot 7/12, as he also had 3REB, 1AST and 1STL. Oliver shot 50% from the floor, as he had 5REB, 1AST, 1STL and a MASSIVE 4BL! Machado shot 4/5 as he ended up with 2REB, 10AST and 1STL. Deng had 3REB, as he converted 4 of his 6 attempted shots.
Key Player- Jerome ‘Handle’ Randle. He scored a season high 35PTS last game. And Randle knows a thing or two about playing/ winning on an under dog team. He has a bulldog mentality and will put some more respect back into the 36ers jersey this match. On the season he has averages of 20.7PPG, 4.7APG and 0.9STL per game. Despite his obvious height disadvantage, he still goes for it every single night. And whether his side wins or losses, he still kills his opponents individually. Before his game vs NZL, he had 21, 21, 23, 19 and 24PTS. What a streak! And in his 2nd most recent game vs NZL, he still shot 4/9 for 10PTS, to go along with 3REB and 6AST. Regardless of whether the 36ers win or lose this one, expect Randle to come away proud of his performance.
Betting tip: Pick Cairns to win at $1.60 (Bet365, BlueBet, UniBet)
Sunday, February 9
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S.E. Melbourne Phoenix v Sydney KingsMelbourne Arena |
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Last RD- South East Melbourne currently sit 8th in the standings, good for 2nd last. Through 25 match’s played this season, they’ve got just 9 wins and nearly as many losses, 16. They are another side that just has pride to play for, for the remainder of this season. And to perhaps ever so slightly, boost Creeks chances of an un-expected MVP Award. Their last game was a seven-point, 100-93 loss to Adelaide. Continuing a recent trend of Melbourne-based teams losing to Adelaide-based teams. The Phoenix won the middle two q’s. 27-22 and 23-17. However, they lost the outer two, 32-19 and 29-24. Creek had a BIG 27PTS, Roberson had 26 and Magden 10. Walker had 8 and all of Pineau, Adnam and Wesley had 6 each. Creek had 10REB, 5AST, 1STL and 1BL, as he shot 8/16 on his two-point attempts. Roberson also had 3REB and 2AST next to his name, as he made 5 3’s. The dudes been a straight Klay Thompson from deep this year! And Magden also had 6REB and 3AST, as he converted a pair of 3’s.
The Kings continue to hold their rightful throne at the top of the table, but only just. They have won 18 match’s and lost just 8 this season. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are only a single win behind them. If Sydney want to have home-court advantage all throughout the finals, then them winning this game is extremely, extremely critical. Their last match was Lisch’s first one back, no Bogut, no Didi and no Moller, yet they fought hard and gave Perth a real scare in their 110-100 loss. The Kings won the 4th, 27-21. But they lost all the others, 31-27, 29-25 and 29-21. Of the starters, Tate had 23PTS, Newley 17 and Ware 16. Coming of the pine, Kickert had 16PTS and Taylor 12. Tate shot 10/13, as he also had 12REB and 2 dimes. Newley shot 4/5 FT’s, as his other stats included 5REB, 2AST and 1STL. Ware only shot 6/17, as he also got 1REB and 2AST. ‘Kicks’, the other 16-point scorer, made 4 3’s and had 3REB. + Bruce also scored 7PTS of the pine.
Key Player- Newley. Whether he’s starting or coming of the bench, the veteran has re-made himself this season in his and his sides relentless pursuit of the NBL Championship. And he should be a legit candidate for the MIP Award. On the season he has averages of 11.8PPG, 4.RPG and 1.3APG. He’s also shooting an impressive 47.8% from the floor. And he’s made 43 3’s. He’s a leader who everyone at the Kings looks up to. He had 17 in his last game and before that, 10, 13 and 17PTS. He can be a focal point of the offence when needed, but he can also step back when needed. He’s done everything and more asked of him this season. Expect him to put on a good performance against South East Melbourne.
Betting tip: Pick the Kings to win at $1.44 (Bet365)
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Perth Wildcats v Brisbane BulletsRAC Arena |
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Last RD- The Wildcats, just like their name, are waiting and waiting to pounce and further wound the Kings. As it stands they’re just one win of the NBL’s top dogs. And they’re showing no signs of slowing down. They currently have 17 wins and 9 defeats so far this campaign through 26 played games. Their latest effort in front of the Red Army was one they soon won’t forget, as they toppled the ladder-leaders again for a closely-contested 110-100 victory. Perth won q’s 1, 2 and 3, 31-27, 29-25 and 29-21. The only one they lost was the 4th, 27-21. Cotton (30PTS) and Kay (21PTS) combined for a MASSIVE 51PTS. White also scored 15 and Norton 11. Of the bench, Steindl had 19PTS and Wagstaff 7. Cotton shot just 2/12 from deep, but he made up for it with 4REB, 1AST and an insane 5STL! Kay shot 6/12 from the floor, as he also had 10REB and 4AST next to his name. White also got 4REB, 2AST and 1STL. And the impact man, Steindl, making his presence known had 1REB, as he hit 6 of his 9 attempted shots from the court.
The Bullets are currently in 4th spot. They’re just one win of 3rd placed Cairns. They’re also one win ahead of 5th placed New Zealand and two ahead of the struggling 6th placed Melbourne. They have a rather impressive 14 wins and 11 defeats through 25 games played so far this season. They are in the box seat to secure back-to-back finals appearances. Their last game was an 87-83 close W vs United. Brisbane only lost the 2nd q, 30-17. They won all the others, 21-17, 25-21 and 24-15 for the season-defining victory. Gliddon shot 0/2, Sobey 4/16, Braun 2/6 and Singler 1/5. Some of Brisbane’s guys had a bad shooting night. That will pass against Melbourne because they’re so damn terrible this season. But it won’t cut it against Perth. If this issue isn’t rectified quickly, the Wildcats will run away with this one and at relative ease at that.
Key Player- Steindl. Cotton, Kay and White are often talked about as Perth’s best. + Now you have Plumlee thrown right into that mix as well. But Steindl’s gotta be up there right?! The man is a bench beast. He is getting 8.8PPG and 1.8RPG. He scored 19PTS last round vs SYD, while shooting a simply AWESOME 66.7% from the floor. Three games before that he scored 11 vs S.E.M and the match before that, 13 vs Illawarra, Where he also had 4REB, 2AST, 1STL and 1BL! He can do a lil bit of everything. And two games ago vs the Breakers, despite only having 4 shots the entire game. He made a more than decent 2 of them. Expect him to be one of the BIG differences in a Perth W in this one.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to win at $1.50 (Bet365)
Best Bet of the Round
Pick Cairns to win at $1.60 (Bet365, BlueBet, UniBet) vs the 36ers
Also pick the Kings to win at $1.44 (Bet365) vs S.E.M