The following are previews with betting tips for selected fixtures in Round 5 of the 2022/23 NBL season.
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Brisbane Bullets vs Illawarra HawksThursday Oct 27, 7:30pm |
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The Bullet’s come ‘firing’ into their home encounter versus the ‘clipped’ Hawks having triumphed in 11 of their last 16 H2Hs against the opposition. However and most importantly at that, James Duncan’s men finally got their maiden NBL season 2022/23 win on the board just last round, with it coming against Illawarra no less. Smashing them 86-52 at the WIN Entertainment Centre on a Monday evening, they certainly weren’t afraid to flex their muscles. No more so then star Centre Aaron Baynes who shot 8/13 from the floor, en route to 17PTS, to go along side 14REB and 2AST. He was strongly backed up by Jason Cadee who shot four threes, contributing to his 16PTS overall + 1REB, 4AST and 3STL. Meanwhile both Nathan Sobey and Tyler Johnson also chipped in with 11PTS a piece, as well as DJ Mitchell who in under 19-minutes of game time locked down 10PTS, 6REB, 2AST and 1STL. And the victory could not have come at a better time for the hugely under seize franchise, because as a result of their win, they leap frogged the Hawks off the bottom of the ladder.
For Illawarra, their embarrassment at home just continued on what has so far been a wretched start to the new campaign for them, with their dismal 1-5 record dragging them deep down into the NBL doldrums. From the get go they were poor, coming up with just 13PTS in Q1 and it hardly got any better throughout the match. A match which was topped off with them going down in Q4, 27-14! In addition to them going 22/71 overall, 7/35 from deep and just 5/12 from the FT line, there were some particularly bad shooters who hampered Jack Jackomas’s side on this particular occasion. Wani Swaka Lo Buluk shot just 1/5 from the field, while Alex Murdonja went 1/6. Lachlan Dent was a shocking 3/13 and ditto for Tyler Harvey who shot 5/18. Whilst George King also went 2/6. Peyton Silva, the ex-Marquee Man for the New Zealand Breakers and former Detroit piston, as well as 2X BBL Champion simply cannot start playing soon enough for the club.
Tyler Harvey has gone AWOL this season. The Guard who is a former draft pick of the Orlando Magic just ain’t seeing the light so far this season. However, who better to break out against than the team who literally just beat you on your home court and badly at that, as well as being a side that has the exact same atrocious record that you have? The stars are conveniently aligned for Harvey to finally put on a show this season, after going a previously mentioned 5/18 last time out, which also included a dismal 2/9 from beyond the arc. While prior to that against the Breakers he went just 5/15 from the floor. And despite being at just 31% shooting for the season, he’s still pulling in 14.3PPG. So if he can rectify his shooting woes against a poor defence, then he can certainly explode in this H2H encounter. And it wasn’t too long ago that Harvey conjured up 18PTS, 5REB and 6AST at Nissan Arena. Look out for this to be a big game for him in one way or another.
Betting tips: Look for the Hawks to pull a shock win out of nowhere at $3.35 (Bet365)
Also look for them to score 19+PTS in Q1 at $1.47 and Brisbane to do 19+PTS too at $1.25 (Bet365)
Whilst I can almost guarantee that at $1.22 the Hawks will score 71+PTS in total (Bet365)
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Adelaide 36ers vs New Zealand BreakersFriday Oct 28, 7:30pm |
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A shoutout to the 36ers who when they last stepped foot out onto the court electrified the reigning champion Sydney Kings in style, triumphing 92-88 at Qudos Bank Arena. Led by 24PTS courtesy of Craig Randall II, they won fashionably. While there was also 17PTS via Daniel Johnson, a 15-piece meal from each of Mitch McCarron + Antonius Cleveland, as well as 13PTS from Robert Franks. And even Hyum Harris chipped in off the bench with five boards being amongst his other stats. Adelaide took Kings owner Paul Smith’s prematch words to heart where amongst other things he described them as “Dead-set think they’re the Golden State Warriors”, showing him that they are in fact Australia’s version of the NBA’s world beaters. Meanwhile Randall II also locked down 6REB, 5AST and 1STL. Whilst Johnson hit a pair of threes to go along with his 8REB and 2AST. And McCarron was very solid from the floor, shooting 5/9 + getting 5REB, 2AST and 1STL. And facing off against the Breakers in their soon-to-come match, their previous dominant performance should be one that they capably back up.
THe bREAKeRs wiLl bE baD THiS SEAsOn!!! These words echo strongly as they were the sentiments shared by many ahead of the new campaign recently starting recently and boy oh boy have they been wrong so far. New Zealand currently posses a 4-2 record on the season, having recorded wins over Tasmania – 71v65, South East Melbourne – 85v77, Illawarra – 88v62 and most recently Cairns – 68v64. In their away triumph versus the Taipans they continued to prove all their doubters wrong, with Barry Brown Jr exploding for 24PTS on 8/13 two-point attempts made amongst other shot selections. Whilst he also dished out 3-dimes. In addition to him, Jarrell Brantley was strong with 13PTS, 4REB and 1AST. And Izayah Le’Afa also chipped in with 11PTS and 3REB. + There was also Derek Pardon with 7PTS, 8REB, 1STL and 2BLK and Will McDowell-White with 7PTS, 2REB, 4AST and 3STL. They should absolutely be looking to once again give it to Adelaide in this exciting affair.
New Zealand will absolutely at some stages throughout the match turn this encounter into a scrappy dog fight, such is what they’ve done so successfully all season long. But Adelaide just ooze class everywhere and it’s difficult to see the Breakers mustering up enough points in order to fully overcome that. Brown Jr can certainly ball out and the former Beijing Duck and 25-year-old Guard has highlighted that all season long for the Breakers. He’s gonna need to produce something special, similar to his final years at Kansas Sate, in order to give New Zealand a chance of pulling a shock result out of the hat. But he is more than capable of doing so, averaging 20PPG this season, alongside 2.7APG. And he damn well takes advantage of his opportunities too, averaging less then 1TO per a match this season. The ex-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year is for real. And big players turn up for the big games! That’s all I’m expressing.
Betting tips: Back Adelaide to conjure up a tight win at $1.37 (TexBet)
Also pick them to reach 10, 15 and 20PTS first at $1.62, $1.60 and $1.75 (Bet365)