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South East Melbourne Phoenix vs Adelaide 36ersSaturday December 21, 8:00pm |
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South East Melbourne and Adelaide head into their highly anticipated matchup against one another with extremely contrasting runs of form. For the Phoenix they’ve won their last five straight home games beating Melbourne 109-97, Cairns 99-94, Illawarra 103-100, Cairns 97-74 and Perth 100-76. In the Melbourne Derby last weekend three SEMP players put up 22+ PTS, with Matt Hurt scoring 28PTS, Jordan Hunter with 23PTS and Nathan Sobey with 22PTS as their attack has been far too much for opposing teams to handle. Meanwhile the 36ers have lost their last four straight away games on the trot by an average of 23.25PTS. The latest of which was a 102-83 shellacking at the hands of the Bullets in Brisbane. Adelaide were behind from the get-go losing Q1 34-24 and from there they never fully recovered enough in order to make a comeback. The Phoenix have this one all wrapped up as a nice early Christmas gift to themselves unless the 36ers can lift themselves up off the floor immensely.
South East Melbourne have a rampant attack as we all know and have seen. The 1540PTS they’ve put up so far this campaign is good for 3rd best overall in the NBL. However one 36er who can help match that offensive energy and the sheer number of points that the Phoenix can potentially pour in is 25-year-old PG Kendric Davis. The former NBA G-League All-Rookie Team member is having a historic season in South Australia putting up 23.3PPG and 7.2APG, those being the best ever numbers from a first-year import. His latest efforts against Melbourne late last month saw him put up 30PTS & 11AST. Giving him the ball at least gives Adelaide a fighters chance here and we know they’ll be doing all the fighting, scratching and clawing possible given that they are currently only one game off 5th spot.
Betting tips: Back a Phoenix win at $1.70 (Dabble, UniBet)
Also back them to win Q1 at $1.83 (BetRight)
And in Q1 also look for the total points scored to be 49+ at $1.79 (UniBet)
Additionally also look for the total points scored in Q4 to be 48+ at $1.84 (UniBet)
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Illawarra Hawks vs Perth WildcatsSunday December 22, 2:30pm |
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It may come as a surprise to some, but Illawarra have won four out of their last six games and rightfully so. Because Justin Tatum and his crew have not been getting nearly enough credit for all the tremendous work they’ve put in this season. They are now currently the ladder leaders and have been simply sensational on both ends of the floor. The Hawks have proven triumphant in four of their last five games and the only blip on their radar during this time has been what was an incredibly tight three-point defeat to the Phoenix. However Perth are certainly no slouches either having won four of their last five match-ups, including a last start 36-point thrashing of the Taipans in Cairns. And it’s been Bryce Cotton, OF COURSE, who has been absolutely torching teams! His last four consecutive matches have seen him put up 40+ PTS in a simply insane run of point scoring form not seen since the days of Andrew Gaze! Cotton scored 40PTS against Illawarra last time he versed them as part of his run and traditionally he runs rampant against this particular opposition side. It’ll likely either be the hosts defence, or another ‘Crazy Cotton’ performance that wins this can’t miss encounter right here.
And as good as Bryce has been lately, we also have to look at the Hawks defence here because it has also been phenomenal. The 1355PTS they’ve given up this season is good for 2nd best in the NBL behind only Tasmania as they have made a habit of suffocating their opposing rivals on the ‘grittier’ side of the floor. One prime example of this is versus Melbourne last round at John Cain Arena no less. In Q3 they limited the hosts to just 15 points. The Hawks ended up winning by 13PTS highlighting how critical that period of defensive dominance was to the games overall result. Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova also had just 3REB combined in another sight of what the Hawks achieved. All hands on deck are needed here for the hosts because Perth’s attack with Bryce in tow has been on fire lately. Last round against the Taipans they put up 128PTS, whilst prior to that they scored a 115-piece meal against the 36ers. And even before that, funnily enough in a loss against the Hawks, the Wildcats still poured in 111PTS. Again the defence vs offence debate is very real and very alive here and should very much so descide the outcome of this spicy affair.
Betting tips: Look for the Wildcats to claim an exciting dub at $2.90 (BetFair)
And look for the total points scored in Q1 to be 50 or under at $1.92 (UniBet)
Also pick the Wildcats to win Q1 at $2.35 (BetRight)