After the hustle and bustle of the NBL Cup, the season resumes normal programming as Round 10 brings us six big games over the course of the weekend.
With the playoffs so close you can touch them, the action is really heating up on the court.
Can we make the weekend of NBL a profitable one?
Read on in our preview.
One of the great rivalries of the NBL to kickstart the round and there’s never a dull moment when the Sydney Kings take on Melbourne United.
Despite it being all played on their home deck, the NBL Cup was not kind to Melbourne United with the league leaders losing their past three games.
With the likes of the Perth Wildcats and Illawarra knocking on their door, they’ll be keen to get their season back on track with a win over the Kings.
With home court advantage back into the equation, the Sydney Kings will go into this match favourites – only just.
Finishing off their NBL Cup campaign with a convincing 11 point win over the Brisbane Bullets, the Kings will take plenty of confidence going into this one.
Many NBL pundits are looking forward to the first matchup between Jarell Martin from the KIngs and Melbourne’s Jock Landale.
This match should be close, but I believe United have it in them to get back on the winners’ list with a win on the road over their old rivals.
Second on the table Perth hosting the bottom of the ladder Taipans at RAC Arena.
Tipping this is pretty straight forward.
The Perth Wildcats have won five out of their last six, won the NBL Cup tournament and are set for another stint in the playoffs for the 58th (32nd year in a row)
Cairns have gone from the darlings of the 2019-20 season to the cellar dwellers this year having lost 6 out of their last 7 games and are entrenched on the bottom of the ladder.
It’ll be a long trip to Perth and quite frankly, the Snakes would be hoping that WA Premier Mark McGowan shuts the border.
Wildcats by plenty.
The South East Melbourne Phoenix will look to put a controversial week off the court behind them as they host the Adelaide 36ers this Saturday.
Mitch Creek won’t be playing due to trouble with the law and the Phoenix without their leading scorer/rebounder is going to make life difficult for them on the court.
It’s a shame, given the Phoenix have been in very good form winning three out of their last four matches.
The 36ers have lost their past two games but have found themselves in the fight in both contests.
While South East Melbourne will be the favourites in this game, I’m tipping an upset and gone the 36ers to win and the over for a nice bit of value.
Well, I was gonna tip the Bullets at home but then this news got out:
BREAKING: @BrisbaneBullets could be forced to play without some of their most experienced players. A bug has run through the side.
Nathan Sobey, Jason Cadee and Tamuri Wigness all have gastro and Vic Law and Matt Hodgson have been sent for covid tests. #NBL @9NewsQueensland
— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) March 18, 2021
With some bug going round and these boys most likely having to wait out a potential Covid-test, all signs point to backing the Breakers to cause an upset.
Prior to going down to the Sydney Kings last week, the Brisbane Bullets had won their previous four games with Nathan Sobey dominating all over the court.
These outs are cause for concern and the club may need to see if Leroy Loggins is available to make a comeback on Saturday night.
The Breakers have already beaten the Bullets this season and Saturday night presents a perfect opportunity to chalk up a win in the Sunshine State.
Melbourne United will have just 48 hours to back it up against Sydney on Friday night as they host Brian Goorjian’s Illawarra Hawks on Sunday arvo.
The Hawks finished their NBL Cup campaign having won their past two-games beating the Sydney Kings and Melbourne United – doing it in style and recapturing the great form we saw at the start of the season.
If Melbourne United lose on Friday night, they’ll go into this after a four-game losing streak or fresh from a win to get their season back on track.
I like the Hawks a lot, but I’m to assume it’s the latter of those two options and will back Melbourne United at home.
The Perth Wildcats will go into this as the clear and overwhelming favourite ahead of this Monday night clash against the Adelaide 36ers.
Perth will look to make it five wins on the trot and easily took care of the Cairns Taipans on Friday night, beating them 93-75.
Things are starting to look dire for the Adelaide 36ers, currently in a three-game slump and coming off a loss in overtime to the South-East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday.
Less than 48 hours later, they jump on a plane to Perth to face the Wildcats and their star young-gun Josh Giddey is likely out with an ankle injury.
When these two last met in the NBL Cup, Perth pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the competition, coming back from 26 points, however, tonight we will be seeing one-way traffic headed the Wildcats way.
Take them at the line.