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South East Melbourne Phoenix vs Melbourne UnitedSunday December 15, 2:30pm |
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A Melbourne Derby on Sunday afternoon is the perfect way to help close out your weekend. Two arch-rivals, one vying desperately for a finals spot and the other in strong contention for 1st, it’s all about to go down at John Cain Arena. For South East Melbourne it’s safe to say they have well and truly turned a corner after their subpar start to the campaign as they now sit in the 6th and final playoffs spot after their tightly contested 99-94 home win over the Taipans. And boy oh boy wasn’t it a whirlwind finish as the hosts came strong with a 24-12 effort in Q4 to swoop out Adam Forde’s Men from under their feet. Nathan Sobey deserves a lot of credit as the sharp-shooter ended the affair with 26PTS including four threes, whilst Angus Glover had one of his best performances in a Phoenix uniform to date with 16PTS, 5REB, 4AST, 1STL and 1BLK. Matt Hurt was also huge with 19PTS & 14REB next to his name.
Whilst for United, currently in 1st place with 12 wins and five defeats for the season, are very well-positioned to make a charge at winning the Grand Final series. However at John Cain Arena last round it wasn’t all roses and chocolates for them as they were edged out by Brisbane 122-114. Melbourne went down in Q3 31-30 and Q4 as well 34-27 in two ultimately game defining periods. However they will be full of confidence headed into the Derby, having proven triumphant in eight of their last nine games against the opposition. And along the way they have also scored 92+ PTS in five of their last six clashes against the Phoenix. Against Brisbane Ian Clark had 24PTS, whilst in United’s latest clash versus the Phoenix he was their top scorer with 19PTS. Meanwhile for the season he is 3rd on their scoring charts with 14.13PPG. With Nathan Sobey at South East Melbourne’s disposal, look for an influential game from United’s ex-NBA champion Shooting Guard in an attempt to rival that of their opposition.
South East Melbourne have won their last four games in a row at home. Two of those wins have come against Illawarra and Perth. United on the other hand have the potential to still be reeling from their shock defeat to Brisbane. The Phoenix have the shooters to match what Melbourne can throw at them, so if they can stay on pace for the majority of the game they might just come away with an absolutely humungous victory.
Betting tips: Odds will be updated when they become available.
And when they do look for a South East Melbourne win, a Q1 victory to South East Melbourne, a Q4 victory to Melbourne and for the total points scored in the game to be at 170+.
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Sydney Kings vs Brisbane BulletsSunday December 15, 4:30pm |
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Sydney head back to Qudos Bank Arena after an extended period out on the road and I think it’s safe to say they’ll be extremely glad to be doing so. They have won four of their last six games at home and after a recent mini surge of form have seen themselves jump up to 3rd on the ladder, now just two games off the 2nd placed Hawks. Having taken it week-by-week and round-by-round the Kings appear to have finally turned a corner under Brian Goorjian as evidenced through their recent 98-83 battering of the Breakers at Spark Arena, Auckland. Despite Parker Jackson-Cartwright pouring in 21PTS, he was matched by an equally as vibrant Jaylen Adams who had 20PTS & 8AST + Xavier Cooks who also banged in a 20-piece meal as well. Kouat Noi was also very impressive as the ex-NBL North 1 MVP and Forward scored 19PTS and went an equally as impressive 5/8 from beyond the arc.
However Brisbane will come in firing on all cylinders and despite their underdog status simply cannot be underestimated for this clash. Just weeks after James Batemon’s historic 51PTS, the Bullets have surged up the ladder after powerful back-to-back wins. Last round they toppled Melbourne in Melbourne 122-114 and before that they smashed the 36ere to smithereens at home 102-83. In their highly entertaining and valuable dub over United, countless Bullets stood up to the task. Keandre Cook and Casey Prather led the way with 27PTS a piece. Whilst Batemon and Tyrell Harrison weren’t far behind them with 25PTS each. Now they are just a game off a finals spot and only two wins off of 4th place. They’ve certainly had their ups and downs this season, but if Brisbane can bring their ‘diamond’ game to Olympic Park they are 1000X over capable of pushing the Kings all the way and getting a win.
Picking a winner out of these two is incredibly tough. Sydney’s offence lately has been through the roof, whilst Brisbane’s defence in critical moments of games have been incredibly decisive. If the Kings start slow as they have done so a few times at home this season and the Bullets capitalise then it could be game over before it even starts. But if not then Sydney will be a tough unit to come away with a win against.
Betting tips: Odds will be updated when they become available.
And when they do look for a Kings win, Q4 to go the Kings way, Brisbane to win Q3 and for Brisbane to win the race to both 10+ and 20+ PTS.