 |
Brisbane Bullets vs New Zealand BreakersWednesday January 08, 7:30pm |
 |
Brisbane have lost their last three straight matches, meanwhile New Zealand have lost nine of ten. With the regular season slowly but steadily drawing to a close both sides chances to make a final crack at the Top Six is now. The Bullets didn’t bring in former ‘Jackies’ star Josh Adams for nothing, likewise the Breakers with former Celtic Tacko Fall. The hosts currently sit three games out of a playoffs spot, with the visitors a little further behind meaning the room for error is little. The Bullets will be ruing that their last two losses have come by just five and nine points. Whilst for the Breakers two of their last four have been decided by just 10 and eight-point margins. But that’s just a sign of how genuinely close the NBL is this season! As both rivals are amongst a logjam of teams looking to progress their way up the ladder. Adams impressively put up 11PTS, 1REB and 1AST in under 18-minutes of playing time against Sydney. Whilst Fall produced 28PTS, 9REB, 1AST and 4BLK vs Perth. Which International can deliver their side an all-important dub?
For Colorado-born Adams he was most recently plying his trade with Maroussi B.C. in the GBL in Greece. And his most recent NBL stats were 17.5PPG + 1SPG. He’s an offensive menace when he’s in his best form and that’s exactly one of the reasons the Bullets brought him over for. He can provide a unique spark that no other Bullet is capable of. Meanwhile for Fall, we’ve all seen the highlights of his dunks close to the rim, that are eerily reminiscent of Shaquille O’Neal. Fall barely has to break a sweat to shoot close to the rim and that is where the Breakers should be constantly looking to feed the ball into all day versus Brisbane. During his five-star performance against the Wildcats the Big Man shot 10/13 from the floor, good for a 76.9% shooting rate. These are the players who can change the game and as a result should play a big part in which team walks away winners here and which team walks away losers.
Brisbane’s last three results and top scorers: L 86-91 vs Kings @ Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre & Casey Prather with 18PTS, L 86-95 vs JackJumpers @ MyState Bank Arena & Keandre Cook with 20PTS and L 84-102 vs 36ers @ Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre & Casey Prather with 28PTS.
New Zealand’s last three results and top scorers: L 86-96 vs Wildcats @ Spark Arena & Tacko Fall/Matt Mooney with 28PTS each, W 92-68 vs Taipans @ Cairns Convention Centre & Matt Mooney with 23PTS and L 82-97 vs JackJumpers @ MyState Bank Arena & Pierre Jackson-Cartwright with 23PTS.
Betting tips: Back Brisbane to win at $1.42 (PlayUp)
Also back Q1 to end Brisbane’s way at $1.57 (bet365)
And look for Brisbane to have 48+ PTS in H1 at $1.97 (Unibet)
 |
Sydney Kings vs Melbourne UnitedThursday January 09, 7:30pm |
 |
These two arch-rivals last two affairs have both come at John Cain Arena. In December of last year it was United who edged out the Kings in a thoroughly tense and entertaining affair 101-98. As Chris Goulding poured in 28PTS for the hosts that day. Meanwhile prior to that Melbourne again edged out their matchup, 87-83, as the hosts backcourt duo of Matthew Dellavedova & Chris Goulding combined for 30PTS, whilst ‘Delly’ also chipped in a further 5AST. And even prior to that ex-United Forward turned Sydney King Makuach Maluach conjured up 18PTS + 4REB against his former employers in what was a dominant 12-point win at Qudos Bank Arena for Sydney. The rivalry simply never takes a break between these two sides. And with both sides currently situated in equal 2nd on the ladder with records of 13-9 and just two matches off 1st, expect fireworks to explode here in what has the potential to be one of the games of the season. Does Mr. Brian Goorjian or Mr. Dean Vickerman walk away with the goods here?
Last time out against Brisbane in Brisbane Jaylen Adams had 21PTS. Before that against South East Melbourne in Sydney he had 32PTS and before that also at home against Adelaide he poured in 41PTS! The former Milwaukee Buck turned NBL MVP has been off the charts lately as the Kings have regained touching distance off 1st spot. He hasn’t been afraid to drive it low and hard to the rim and accordingly has sunk his FTs. Whilst he’s also hit some major shots to help aid Sydney’s fine run of form lately. Against United on his home floor you can again expect him to be influential as he’ll undoubtedly cause the likes of Matthew Dellavedova & Co trouble all night long. This sort of game is built for him and don’t expect him to let the opportunity slip.
Sydney’s last three results and top scorers: W 91-86 vs Bullets @ Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre & Jaylen Adams with 21PTS, W 110-101 vs Phoenix @ Qudos Bank Arena & Jaylen Adams with 32PTS and L 96-111 vs 36ers @ Qudos Bank Arena & Jaylen Adams with 41PTS.
Melbourne’s last three results and top scorers: L 81-100 vs 36ers @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre & Chris Goulding with 18PTS, W 76-66 vs Taipans @ Cairns Convention Centre & Chris Goulding with 19PTS and L 91-97 vs JackJumpers @ John Cain Arena & Chris Goulding with 18PTS.
Betting tips: Look for a closely contested Sydney dub at $1.75 (PlayUp)
Also look for the total points in Q4 to be 47+ at $1.79 (Unibet)
And pick Sydney alone to have 24+ PTS in Q1 at $1.80 (Unibet)