It’s the final round of the NBL Cup and we have 10 huge games from Wednesday – Sunday as the nine clubs come to the realization that the hub was the friends they made along the way.
Three clubs – Perth, Brisbane, and Melbourne United remain in the mix to take out the $300,000 NBL Cup while premiership points for the 2021 season are still in contention.
Can we make the final days of the NBL Cup/Round 9 a winning one for the Punters? Read on in our preview.
It’s a bottom-of-the-table clash but in the world of NBL tipping that makes the NZ Breakers vs Cairns Taipans clash a bloody hard one to find a winner.
Throughout the hub/NBL Cup life the Cairns Taipans have had just one win and last year’s darlings of the competition have had a Barry Crocker of a season to date.
Whenever the Taipans look to get things on track, they fall back and rightfully belong down the bottom.
Since the NBL went into Hub/Cup mode, the New Zealand Breakers have really started to click.
Big wins over the 36ers and Bullets along with giving Melbourne United a scare, going down 84-87 the Breakers are looking to make a charge towards the later part of the 2021 NBL season.
With the Breakers opting to make Launceston their home for the remainder of the season, they could develop a legitimate home-court advantage and make a charge towards to business end.
They’ll have to get the job done over the Taipans first, and while the NBL Cup is known to produce an upset or two, the Breakers go in rightful favorites and should chalk up a win. Take them at the line.
Boy oh boy do we love a Throwdown.
It’s local derby time in the NBL Cup with the South-East Melbourne Phoenix taking on Melbourne United and this game should be a beauty.
They might be top of the table, but Melbourne United have had somewhat of a form slump recently.
Melbourne United was stunned by the Brisbane Bullets 88-96 on Sunday and only just got over the line against the NZ Breakers and Sydney Kings.
The South East Melbourne Phoneix have lost their past two games and these close losses may come back to haunt them when it comes to being in playoff contention, currently sitting in 7th place on the NBL ladder.
An upset over their cross-town rivals would really give their season a shot in the arm, but I just can’t see it happen.
The good teams just know how to win, and despite the hiccup on Sunday over the Bullets, you’d expect Melbourne United to get the job done and I’ll take them at the 1-10 point margin.
Fresh off an upset win over Melbourne United and very much in contention to take out the NBL Cup, the Brisbane Bullets look to continue their great run of form against the Adelaide 36ers.
The momentum is building for the Bullets, who were able to back up a huge win over the Perth Wildcats on Friday to beat the top-of-the-table Melbourne United 48 hours later.
Brisbane is now the only team in the NBL to beat both Melbourne United and the Perth Wildcats and things are really starting to gel for them.
After three losses on the trot, the Adelaide 36ers were able to break through for an 81-71 win over the lowly Cairns Taipans and will take in much confidence against the NBL’s Giant killers.
The hub life/NBL Cup has not been kind to the 36ers and they’d love to finish this tournament up on a high.
However, it’s always hard to go past a team on a roll, and the Bullets should be able to conjure up a win in this one.
It’s an NSW derby…in Victoria and both the Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks look evenly matched ahead of their clash at John Cain Arena tonight.
The Sydney Kings head into this game coming off an excellent second-half defensive performance, snapping their two-game losing streak with a solid 91-85 win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix and will take in plenty of confidence heading into this clash with their old rivals.
Illawarra desperately needs a win.
Ever since they beat the Kings back in round 5, the Hawks have lost four of their last six games which is a serious form slump given they started the season 4-0.
Brian Goorjian’s Hawks have a reputation as slow starters and the KIngs are notorious for starting well but fading away.
I love a good stat, and the Sydney Kings have been the best starters of any NBL Club this season leading at quarter time in 11 out of 13 games.
I’ll take the Kings at the 1st Qtr Moneyline for a potential early payout and just enjoy what should be a cracking game of Basketball.
Fresh off a thrilling 3 point win over the Taipans, the NZ Breakers will look to spoil the Perth Wildcats NBL Cup hopes as the two sides meet in the first of a Friday doubleheader at John Cain Arena.
It was Breakers veteran Tom Abercrombie’s buzzer-beating three-pointer that handed New Zealand a dramatic three-point win, breaking the hearts of the lowly Cairns Taipans on Wednesday night in one of the games of the season.
The Breakers have won three out of their past four, and in the one game they lost got close to toppling the top of the table Melbourne United.
Things have just clicked for them and they will fancy their chances in this one.
The Perh Wildcats will go into this game well-rested, having won five out of their past six and only suffering a narrow loss to the Brisbane Bullets last Friday night.
Still in contention to win the NBL Cup tournament and to cement their place in the playoffs for the 57th year in a row (it’s actually 32), the Wildcats just know when to take care of business when it matters most.
This should be a high-scoring affair, so I’ll take the over.
Both sides will have just 48 hours to back it up when they meet on Friday night.
South East Melbourne Phoenix survived a challenge from Melbourne United to conjure up a memorable 97-92 win over their cross-town rivals in an all-time Throwdown classic.
Despite a late surge from United in the last quarter, which forced the game into overtime, Mitch Creek refused to let his team lose and saved the day.
Cairns had their hearts broken by the NZ Breakers after staging a spirited fightback in the final quarter and looked to send the game into overtime before Tom Abercrombie ensured victory for the Kiwis.
The Taipans have lost five of their past six and simply have forgotten how to win.
Upsets are common in the NBL Cup and with both teams having the same amount of rest and coming off intense games, they should be evenly matched, however, it’s hard to go past the Phoenix in this one.
Both sides will have just 48 hours to back it up from their performances on Thursday night.
The Brisbane Bullets came back from behind at half-time with Nathan Sobey putting on a show to steer his team to a 109-104 victory over the Adelaide 36ers.
Sydney put in a shocker and have no chance of winning the NBL Cup after going down to the Hawks 69-89.
Premiership points are still on the line in this game, but with the prospect of a trophy, a big cash prize and a team in the red-hot form it’s the Bullets all the way.
Illawarra will go into this game with plenty of confidence having smashed their cross-town rivals the Sydney Kings on Thursday night, getting back to their early season best and cementing their position in the NBL’s top four.
Melbourne United will have the fresher legs going into this game, still hurting from a thrilling 92-97 loss to the Phoneix in the Throwdown on Wednesday night.
Depending on how results go in the other games prior, Melbourne United could still be a chance to take out the NBL Cup but will be more focused on getting premiership points their overall season after suffering a form-slump fo recent.
While still on top of the ladder and the hub-life gifting them the home-court advantage in this game despite it technically being listed as an “away” match, they’ve let me down a bit recently on my tips.
So I’m backing the Hawks on the reasons of Value, spite and I have always been a big fan of the Goorj.
Melbourne United are probably going to thrash Illawarra now.
Preview to come closer to tip-off
Preview to come closer to tip-off