The following are previews with betting tips for selected fixtures in Round 17 of the 2021/22 NBL season.
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New Zealand Breakers vs Brisbane BulletsThursday Mar 24, 7:30pm |
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Things are looking very ghastly for New Zealand at the moment, with the ‘stranded’ franchise floundering, having gone down in six of their last seven appearances on the court, in addition to having lost three out of their last four clashes as hosts. Their most recent matchup coming in the form of a spirited, yet still demoralising 95-85 defeat to Perth at RAC Arena. Some atrocious three-point shooting from the likes of Hugo Besson 0/7, Ousmane Deng 1/4 and Thomas Abercrombie 2/6 certainly did them no favours, as the Breakers shot 13/34 as a whole from deep. Yet luckily for them, Brisbane was just as bad recently in their 98-88 loss against Cairns at home. The Bullets being very ropable from three-point range with Isaiah Moss among the myriad of casualties, shooting 1/6. With the Bullets also failing to fire in three out of their last four appearances this matchup is well and truly up for grabs to whoever wants it the most.
Key player for the hosts: 4X NBL Champion Thomas Abercrombie. In addition to having scored in double-figures last game (12PTS), his experience may prove vital in an upset Breakers victory.
Key player for the ‘road’ warriors: The Chicago-born Isaiah Moss. At 25-years-of-age he simply has to be outdoing his less-than-ideal showings of last round and it is pretty evident that Brisbane needs all the help they can get at the moment.
Both teams are looking pretty close to being in shambles at the moment. However, the Breakers get my vote of confidence here because of their recent pair of heroic efforts against Perth. Those being 10-point and two-point defeats against last season’s Grand Finalists.
Betting tips: Look for the Breakers to claim an upset win at $1.87 (Bet365)
Meanwhile you can also look for H2 to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)
And you can look for the total match points to reach over the 165.5 amount at $1.65 (Bet365)
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Perth Wildcats vs Tasmania JackJumpersThursday Mar 24, 9:30pm |
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Perth have won their last six H2Hs on the trot to comfortably assert their ascendancy in 2nd place on the ladder once again! As for the visitors from ‘Tassie,’ their road form is dicey to say the least, having won only two of their last four trips away from MyState Bank Arena. And as per usual in the Wildcats latest 10-point victory over the Breakers in Perth, it was Bryce Cotton and Vic Law, the NBL’s on-fire duo who flamed New Zealand. Law secured 26PTS, 12REB, 3AST and 1STL on 10/19 shooting from the floor. While Cotton had one-point less with 25, in addition to hitting three threes, as well as having 5REB, 6AST and 2STL. Whilst for Scott Roth’s men, his passionate aggression towards the opposing Antonius Cleveland was seemingly the most aggression his side displayed all day long, as the Memphis-born Guard seemingly mocked the head coach’s passionate celebrations from a few rounds ago, a time when the Hawks had their wings clipped. However, there was no clipping of the wings this time round in what was a 26-point Illawarra win, pinpointed by a 20-12 Q4 victory. Regardless of who prevails, this matchup will be TOUGH!
Key player for the hosts: Former Orlando Magic and Big Ten All-Defensive Team member Vic Law. In recent times he’s provided more then adequate backup to Bryce Cotton (26PTS, 29PTS and 24PTS over his last three matches) and there’s no reason that shouldn’t continue on against the JackJumpers.
Key player for the ‘road’ warriors: JOSH ADAMS! Despite their most recent and hefty loss to the Hawks, he still poured in 21PTS, which included three threes. They’re versing Perth, so they’ll need all the scoring assistance they can get.
Perth is the pretty easy pick here to be honest, as they’re on a roll at the moment and simply adore playing before the ‘Red Army.’ Now not only do they have the fearsome duo of Bryce Cotton & Vic Law, but they also have Majok Majok and Matt Hodgson as the rotating Centres + Jesse Wagstaff too, a 6X NBL Championship victor.
Betting tips: Back Perth to claim a comfortable win at $1.15 (Bet365)
Also back them to win Q1 at $1.42 and for both teams to score 18+ points in that period at $1.62 (Bet365)
And also look for H2 to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)
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Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne PhoenixFriday Mar 25, 7:30pm |
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Posting just their fifth win of the campaign from a rather audacious eighteen attempts, the seemingly headless Taipans displayed a lot of gusto in their 98-88 victory over Brisbane at Nissan Arena, seemingly muting whatever the Bullets ‘shot’ at them. Tajhere McCall was among the main benefactors as he produced 21PTS, 1REB, 6AST and 5STL. While Bul Kuol had a game and a half, shooting 4/4 from the court, as well as registering 17PTS + 2REB, 1AST and 2STL. And Scott Machado must be mentioned too with the former Laker-man securing 14PTS & 11AST among his other stats in what was truly a team effort from one of the lower ranked NBL sides. As for the Phoenix, their finals position is getting increasingly precarious by the day as they were bested by the Kings 91-89 at John Cain Arena, in what was a Saturday night blockbuster. Jarell Martin torched them for 24PTS & 8REB, while Xavier Munford fashioned 26PTS and Mitch Creek had 17PTS in response. While amongst the other contributors was Brandon Ashley who in just over 16-minutes of playing time had 13PTS, 7REB and 1BLK. In this matchup you have two sides wanting to compete to the best of their abilities and MORE for varied reasons. So, with respect and playoffs Basketball on the line and regardless of the overall outcome of the match, this certainly should be worth a watch … and maybe even a replay.
Key player for the hosts: Ex-Brooklyn Net Tajhere McCall. It wasn’t too long ago that his infamous words described him as taking accountability for the Taipans poor run of results. Now having had the performance that he’s just had, he looks primed to be a vital player once again for the Taipans, even if the result is an eventual defeat for them.
Key player for the ‘road’ warriors: Mitch Creek. He needs no introduction both in the NBL and abroad, while despite his team’s loss last round, his stats still included 17PTS & 5REB. His presence from mid-range and inwards may just be to, to much for Adam Forde’s men to ultimately manage.
Despite their win, you can’t colour bags of trash with a gold permanent marker and call it gold … because at the end of the day it’s still trash. And disappointingly for the Taipans that’s kind of been the story of their season so far. I’d imagine a relatively comfortable Phoenix victory is on the cards here, with Simon Mitchell’s men enjoying a nice little ‘holiday’ away from home.
Betting tips: Look to South East Melbourne to win rather easily at $1.46 (Sportsbet)
In addition look for the total points scored to be 166.5+ at $1.89 (Sportsbet)
And look for the amount of points scored to be a collectively odd number at $1.84 (Sportsbet)
Best Bets of the Round – Perth Wildcats vs Tasmania JackJumpers
Back Perth to claim a comfortable win at $1.15 (Bet365)
Also back them to win Q1 at $1.42 and for both teams to score 18+ points in that period at $1.62 (Bet365)
And also look for H2 to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)