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Illawarra Hawks vs Cairns TaipansFriday January 03, 7:00pm |
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Prior to their shock 110-105 defeat to South East Melbourne at home, Illawarra had won five straight as they currently occupy 1st spot on the NBL ladder with a 13-6 record, placed two games ahead of both 2nd and 3rd. However they ended up losing Q4 against the Phoenix by just five points in a period that was unequivocally crucial to the overall result of their matchup. They now turn their attention to the dead-last Taipans, with some Cairns fans wanting Adam Forde to hand in his immediate resignation. After their most recent 24-point thrashing at the hands of New Zealand comments on the Taipans social media included “Lost again, baby players” and “Have you ever known the results before the competition? Hahaha”. It’s harsh but telling as ‘Fordey’ and his troops attempt to do the impossible and somehow derail the Hawks season. Can they get it done though or not is a massive, massive question.
Illawarra’s latest three games and top performers; L 105-110 @Win Entertainment Centre vs Phoenix, Tyler Harvey w 20PTS, 1REB, 3AST and 1BLK, W 102-84 @Brisbane Entertainment Centre vs Bullets, Trey Kell III w 18PTS, 4REB, 4AST and 4STL and W 111-108 @Qudos Bank Arena vs Kings, Trey Kell III W 26PTS, 6REB, 8AST and 1STL.
Cairns’s latest three games and top performers; L 68-92 @Cairns Convention Centre vs Breakers, Tanner Groves W 21PTS, 8REB, 1AST, 1STL and 1BLK, L 66-76 @Cairns Convention Centre vs United, Tanner Groves W 20PTS, 6REB, 4AST and 2STL and L 107-104 @Brisbane Entertainment Centre vs Bullets, Rob Edwards W 27PTS, 5REB and 2AST.
Sam Froling vs Tanner Groves – Battle of the Bigs – 14.6PPG, 2.1APG and 7.0RPG vs 12.3PPG, 1.4APG and 4.8RPG.
Betting tips: Pick an Illawarra win at $1.13 (BetRight)
Also pick them to win Q1 at $1.38 (bet365)
Additionally you can also choose for the total Q1 points to be under 48.50 at $1.77 (Unibet)
And look for the total points scored in Q2 to be over 46.50 at $1.78 (Unibet)
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Adelaide 36ers vs Melbourne UnitedSaturday January 04, 5:30pm |
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Jaylen Adam’s best ever game as a pro, a 41-piece meal evidently wasn’t enough to stop the 36ers last round as they disposed of Sydney by 15-points away from home last Monday evening. Whilst for United they only scraped by against the Taipans in Cairns due to the hosts sheer incompetent play. This saw Melbourne’s opposition register only 13PTS in Q1, 16PTS in Q2 and 15PTS in Q4. It appears as though Adelaide have been gaining their touch lately and Melbourne have been losing theirs. And given that not too long ago multiple Melbourne fans in Melbourne fought with the 36ers players, resulting in some suspensions as well as long-time bans, tempers will undoubtedly be ready to go off like a fire cracker at a moments notice here. The crowd will rip into Chris Goulding with every flop and ram home every single moment of brilliance from Kendric Davis, ‘DJ’ and the likes. And given where the 36ers are precariously placed at the moment position wise, they’ll be using every single opportunity they can at home to come up with a desperately needed win. So much is bound to happen in this Round 15 matchup.
Adelaide’s latest three games and top performers; W 111-96 @Qudos Bank Arena vs Kings, Kendric Davis W 30PTS, 5REB and 9AST, L 92-116 @Adelaide Entertainment Centre vs Wildcats, Dejan Vasiljevic W 23PTS, 5REB, 3AST and 2STL and L 90-111 @Adelaide Entertainment Centre vs Bullets, Kendric Davis W 32PTS, 2REB, 8AST and 1STL.
Melbourne’s latest three games and top performers; W 76-66 @Cairns Convention Centre vs Taipans, Chris Goulding W 19PTS, 5REB, 1AST and 2STL, L 91-97 @John Cain Arena vs JackJumpers, Matthew Dellavedova W 16PTS, 5REB, 9AST and 1STL and L 97-109 @John Cain Arena vs Phoenix, Ian Clark with 20PTS, 2REB and 1AST.
Kendric Davis vs Chris Goulding – Battle of the superstar Guards – 24.0PPG, 7.5APG and 3.8RPG vs 18.8PPG, 1.6APG and 1.9RPG.
Betting tips: Look for Melbourne to earn a rebound victory at $1.68 (Unibet)
And pick them to win Q1 as well at $1.70 (bet365)
Also choose the H1 total to be over 99.50 points at $1.83 (Unibet)