The following are previews with betting tips for selected fixtures in Round 16 of the 2022/23 NBL season.
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Tasmania JackJumpers vs South East Melbourne PhoenixWednesday Jan 18, 7:30pm |
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With the ‘grasping for air’ Phoenix currently situated in 7th on the NBL ladder and behind arch-rivals Melbourne United in the standings NOW IS GO TIME! Because with only four games left in their season it well and truly is now or never for Simon Mitchell’s perennial underachievers. Meanwhile for the hosting JackJumpers they are well-placed as things currently stand, as they are just one game off the 3rd-placed Breakers. And headed into this crucial matchup things possibly couldn’t be worse for South East Melbourne at the moment, as they have won just one of their last nine matches on the road. On the flip side of things to ‘Tassie’s’ credit they are balling at the moment, having won four of their last five home affairs. Scott Roth’s Men would obviously like to walk off the floor triumphant in order to keep the pressure on those above them, so this cracking matchup means a lot to both of the two rivals.
Tasmania were brilliant at the MyState Bank Arena last round as they thumped Adelaide 98-82. And their 29-21 Q4 win played a huge part in the overall victory. Both Jack McVeigh and Milton Doyle were humungous, posting a 28-piece meal each. McVeigh to his credit shot 10/17 from the floor as he also had 6REB and 1AST. Whilst Doyle went 9/15 and also got 6REB, 4AST and 2STL. And Rashard Kelly was another valuable contributor as he secured 19PTS, 5REB, 3AST, 2STL and 1BLK. While Sean Macdonald had 9PTS.
Meanwhile for the Phoenix at the State Basketball Centre they were terrible in what was an 84-79 defeat at the hands of the Bullets, as they conceded a horrendous 30PTS in Q2. However leading the way for the hosts was Alan Williams who shot 4/7 from the court for 19PTS + 9REB, 1AST, 1STL and 2BLK. Mitch Creek also contributed heavily with 17PTS, 13REB and 3AST. Gary Browne also had 12PTS and Trey Cell III secured 10.
In three out of Tasmania’s last six games they’ve conceded 82PTS or less, with the highlight of the bunch being when they limited Illawarra to just 60. And in their latest sterling home effort against the 36ers they collected 29 defensive rebounds to the oppositions 22. And the JackJumpers also came up with eight steals, in comparison to Adelaide’s six. On the defensive side of things at the moment, they are doing all the gritty and dirty things right, which can be a major difference in either winning or losing Basketball games. South East Melbourne on the other hand landed just 4/24 attempts from beyond the arc on target and through the hoop vs Brisbane, while they turned the ball over 15X as well! On one side you have some pretty stats and on the other side it gets pretty ugly. There’ll be only one victor to emerge from this matchup and it’s pretty obvious who (hint; it won’t be the visitors).
Betting tips: Look for Tasmania to come away with the win at $1.57 (TexBet)
Also look for them to win Q3 at $1.73 (UniBet)
And additionally look for them to score 81+ PTS at $1.21 (Bet365)
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New Zealand Breakers vs Illawarra HawksThursday Jan 19, 5:30pm |
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As New Zealand prepare to host Illawarra they do so sitting just one singular game ahead of 4th-spot on the NBL table, so Mody Maor & Co would absolutely love to keep the ball rolling against the lowly Illawarra Hawks. A win for the Breakers would represent their first in their last four attempts. However working strongly in their favour is that Illawarra haven’t drunk from the wine cup of success since they last posted a 14-point win over Melbourne, a grand total of 12 matches ago! Although very unlucky is the fact that the Hawks have lost their last five games on the trot by just eight-points or less! With South Carolina-born Jarrell Brantley having conjured up 25PTS/14REB/5STL, 17PTS/5REB/2STL and 13PTS/7REB/2STL over his latest three matchups the former All-NBA G League First Team Forward along with the rest of his pesky New Zealand teammates should be a bit too much for Illawarra to handle in this spicy meeting.
For the Breakers they were left with ‘broken’ hearts after a late Tom Abercrombie attempt from deep went askew and in turn they lost 85-83 at Spark Arena versus Cairns. The Breakers 18-17 Q4 effort ultimately not enough to walk off the floor with the dub in hand. Outside of Jarrell Brantley, Will McDowell-White was massive with 29PTS, 5REB, 5AST and 3STL, as he shot 9/14 from the floor. Cam Gliddon meanwhile was also a valuable asset in just under 11-minutes of playing time, as he locked down 6PTS and 1BLK.
As for the Hawks they fought the good fight but it wasn’t enough, as they went down 84-79 versus the Kings in Homebush at Sydney Olympic Park. Despite winning Q4 25-21 it wasn’t enough for them to get the win in the end. Leading the way was Tyler Harvey who turned in a vintage, five-star effort with 24PTS on 7/15 shooting from deep, alongside 2REB, 3AST and 2STL. Sam Froling was also strong with 14PTS, 9REB, 5AST and 1STL. Whilst Wani Swaka Lo Buluk did a bit of everything with 10PTS, 3REB, 3AST, 1STL and 1BLK, as did Deng Deng with 7PTS, 9REB, 1AST, 2STL and 1BLK. And Lachlan Dent came off the bench commandingly with a 15-piece meal to his name.
Besides Jarrell Brantley I could write multiple pages about why New Zealand should whisk away this match with ease, but the general gist of it is that they are a much better and much more loaded side then the opposition and their injuries also aren’t nearly as bad as what Illawarra are experiencing at the moment. Last round against the Kings it took a hero-like effort from Tyler Harvey just to keep them in the match and Sydney themselves have been pretty defensively lax as of late, the complete opposite of New Zealand. If they shut him down can Lachlan Dent be relied upon two games in a row? What will Sam Froling produce? How will Wani Swaka Lo Buluk defend what the opposition will throw at him? There’s just two many unanswerable questions for Illawarra here, whereas there just aren’t for the Breakers.
Betting tips: Bet on a Breakers win at $1.21 (UniBet)
Also bet on Q1 belonging to them as well at $1.49 (UniBet)
And you can back them to score 84+ PTS at $1.36 (Bet365)