NBL Round 4 – Selected Fixtures and Betting Tips

The following are previews with betting tips for Round 4 of the 2021 NBL season.

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Friday, February 5

Brisbane Bullets vs Melbourne United Nissan Arena 7:30pm AEDT

With less then 2 seconds left on the shot clock last time out, Victor Law dunked the ball in through the net to give Brisbane an absolutely thrilling 105-103 victory over Cairns at Nissan Arena. What a mental game it was. And after a poor start to the season, it’s now the Bullets 2^nd victory from 4 attempts so far. Q4 was crucial for them, as they sent the match into OT with an emphatic 29-18 win. And then in OT, they prevailed 15 points to 13. Sobey was massive with 30PTS, while Law had 29. Sobey hit 3 from deep, along with 4REB, 5AS and 1ST. As for Law, he hit a crazy 10/10 FT’s along with 11REB, 2AS, 2ST and 2BL. Cadee also scored 11PTS and also got 5REB and 4AS. While both Harrison and Froling of the bench had 8PTS each. Hodgson also scored 7 of the pine.

Melbourne United’s 96-90 victory over S.E.M was their 3^rd victory of the campaign from 3 matches played, as they marched on with the tight W at the Bendigo Basketball Stadium. Q’s 2 & 3 were crucial periods for them as they won those 25-18 and 19-14 respectively. And they had a multitude of high scorers in this one. White scored 22PTS, Goulding 19, Landale 16 and McCarron also had 8. Whilst coming of the pine, Ili scored 14 and Lual-Acuil had 11. White also had 6REB and a massive 4BL! Goulding also hit 3 triples, as he additionally had 4REB and 3AS. For Landale, he shot a really good 66.7% from the floor, as his other stats included 7REB, 4AS and 2BL.

This should be some sort of a match-up! The Bullets have won their last 2 in a row, while for Melbourne, they are yet to lose a game so far this season. And it is a game that will be defined by the individual battles within it. More specifically Nathan Sobey coming up against Chris Goulding. Both men have won at least 1X Gold Medal for Australia and both have also featured in all NBL teams on multiple occasions. Funnily enough, Sobey currently plays for Brisbane, while Goulding previously repped them. Both athlete’s ability to pull up from deep and drive it to the hole, will have both sets of defences on notice. Sobey lit up Cairns for 30 in their last game, in what is a season-high for him. As for Goulding, it was 19 against S.E.M, also his last match. Both players are in form and both players will heavily dictate the outcome of this should be closely contested clash.

Pick Brisbane to win at $3.20 (Bet365)

Also pick them to reach 20 points first at $2.30 (Bet365)

 

Saturday, February 6

Adelaide 36ers vs Sydney Kings Adelaide Entertainment Centre 8:00pm AEDT

Adelaide’s latest victory was very impressively their 4^th on the year, from 6 games played. This came about as they beat Sydney 85-80, at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Ultimately, q’s 2 & 3 were what did it for them. This as they won those periods 21-12 and 19-15 respectively. Humphries led the way, shooting an emphatic 13/20 from the floor! Good for 27PTS! He also had 9REB, 1AS, 1ST and 1BL. While Johnson was pretty influential was well. He ended up with 16PTS, 4REB, 4AS and 1BL. And both Crocker and Dech had 13PTS a piece. For Crocker that meant shooting 50% from the court, in addition to having 6REB and 3AS. While for Dech, he also shot 50% from the floor, as he got 5REB and 1AS. And of the pine, Sloan had 5PTS, 3 boards and 4 dimes.

The Kings have won just 1 game this year from 4 matches played! A damming stat that was made after their embarrassing showing at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre last round. They lost 85-80 as they played horribly and shot horribly! Losing q’s 2 & 3 are what put the nail in the coffin for them so to speak. They lost those two periods 21-12 and 19-15 respectively. The only Kings to shoot above 50% the entire match was Newley, 4/7 and Vasiljevic 12/23. Outside of that, Martin shot 44.4%, Moller 25.0%, Ware 40.0%, Bruce 40.0%, Galloway 0.0%, Hunter 0.0%, and Vodanovich 0.0%. Suffice to say with Weather and Tate departed and Cooks, Louzada and Kickert all out injured, the Kings are reverting to their banterish nickname of the ‘Violet-crumbles’ at the moment!

Josh Giddey, the 18-year-old PG for the 36ers will be the key to the game for Adelaide. Last time out vs Sydney, he had just 5PTS on 2/7 shooting. A far cry from the 13 he had against NZ prior to that. He also had 8 dimes against the Breakers and just half of that against the Kings (4). For whatever reason, whether it be mental or physical or a bit of both against SYD, he just simply didn’t perform to the normal high standards that we’ve come to expect pretty quickly from him. He is the key to the 36ers offence, and they only just beat the Kings last round by 5, with him playing badly. If he’s on his game, imagine how much better they’d do. Whether he performs great, or performs crap, he is most definitely a key player within this exciting clash.

Pick Sydney to claim the bounce back victory at $2.43 (UniBet)

Also pick them to win Q4 at $1.97 (Sportsbet)

 

Sunday, February 7

South East Melbourne Phoenix vs Illawarra Hawks State Basketball Centre 3:00pm AEDT

It might have been S.E.M’s 3^rd defeat of the season from 5 attempts, but absolutely no one could question their integrity or their fight as they pushed all the way in their 96-90 defeat to Melbourne last round. This being a match that was played at the Bendigo Basketball Stadium. They won a high scoring q in the 4^th, 36-30. But ultimately that wasn’t enough to let them walk away with the W. The bench contributors were strong for the Phoenix in this one. Moore had 12PTS, 10REB and 1BL. While Adnam had 10REB, 2REB, 1AS and 1ST. Skyes hit 3/5 from beyond the arc, en route to 24PTS. As he also posted stats of 6REB, 7AS and 2ST. Wetzell also went 7/11 from the court, as he had 17PTS, 7REB, 2AS and 1BL. In addition to those respective players, Creek posted 13PTS and Gliddon 11.

At the Cairns Pop Up Arena, the Hawks continued their simply blistering start to the new campaign, as they thrashed the Taipans 90-70, to go 4/4 on the year. They won every q bar the 3^rd. As those respective scores from first to last were 19-12, 26-24 and 29-15! Harvey led the way for Illawarra with 21PTS. That as he went all James Harden from deep, hitting 5 3’s! He also had 2REB, 2AS and 2ST. Jessup shot 61.5% as he had 19PTS. In addition, he also got 3REB, 1AS and 1BL. Froling also scored 14PTS and had 7REB, 1AS, 1ST and 1BL. While of the pine, Deng and White had a cool 8PTS each. Deng also had 5 boards and White 2.

On one hand you have a Phoenix side that have absolutely battled hard this season. This is evidenced through their results. They’ve beaten the reigning champs Perth once and also lost to them once. They also lost to Melbourne by 6 in what was a thrilling Derby clash. And as well as that, they also lost to Adelaide by 8 and beat them by 6 as well. As for the Hawks they are 4/4 and are coming of a 20-point demolition job of the Taipans and on their home-court no less! This game will have it all. Expect every q to be keenly contested and for the Hawks to get a real run for their money here. Ultimately, Illawarra should get the win here, but not without S.E.M causing them a hell of a lot of trouble first!

Pick the Hawks to win this clash at odds of $1.20 or more

Also pick the Hawks to prevail in Q1 at odds of $1.40 or more

 

Best Bets of the Round

Pick Brisbane to win Q4 against Melbourne at $2.04 (Sportsbet)

Also pick Sydney to score 20 points first vs the 36ers at $2.10 (Bet365)

And pick the Hawks to win Q4 of their clash against S.E.M at odds of $1.40 or more