NBL24 Round 2 action continues on Friday night with another juicy double-header. The first game of the night will see the Tasmania JackJumpers take on the Sydney Kings. It should be a fantastic battle and one that we’ve previewed and provided our best bet for below!
Also, we’re providing previews and expert betting tips for every game of the NBL24 season, so make sure to head over to our NBL Tips page regularly to keep up to date with all of our content. Alternatively, you can access the rest of our NBL Round 2 betting tips here!
NBL24 Round 2 Preview & Betting Tips
Tasmania JackJumpers vs Sydney Kings
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, October 6th, MyState Bank Arena
Unlucky to come away with a loss in their opening game against the Wildcats, the Tasmania JackJumpers will return to the Nest for their home opener this Friday night. In typical JackJumpers style, they refused to give up in their Round 1 loss, rallying back from big deficits on multiple occasions. However, they couldn’t quite get over the line in the end (95-101).
The usual suspects did most of the heavy lifting in their opening game, with Jack McVeigh (22 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Milton Doyle (18 points, six rebounds, eight assists) leading the way. Import Jordan Crawford struggled with his shot but still contributed, while Majok Deng also provided a spark off the bench.
Big man Will Magnay missed the season opener and will remain unavailable for another couple of weeks as he recovers from a foot injury. His absence means Marcus Lee and Fabian Krslovic are sharing the duties at the centre position, with both players offering vastly different skillsets.
Quick to find their footing in NBL24, the Sydney Kings got their back-to-back championship defence off to a fantastic start by defeating the Hawks in their opening game. It was expected that the Hawks would put up strong resistance in the first game of the Freeway Series, but instead the Kings walked away with a comfortable 15-point win (96-81).
NBL22 MVP Jaylen Adams certainly wasn’t shy in his return game, hoisting up 17 shots and finishing the night with 20 points. Jaylin Galloway was another shining light with 18 points on a highly efficient 88/9% clip, while Denzel Valentine, Kouat Noi, and Alex Toohey all had their moments.
Star forward DJ Hogg will have to wait another 1-2 weeks to make his debut in the purple and gold. He’s been nursing a shoulder injury since coming across from the Taipans whom he had a dominant season with in NBL23. Jackson Makoi is the only other Kings players currently unavailable due to injury.
Match prediction: The Kings won the season series 2-1 against the JackJumpers in NBL23 and they’ll enter Friday night’s clash as the narrow favourites again despite being the travelling side. It’s no real surprise to see them priced as favourites considering their success in the competition over the past two seasons, however, I’m not as big on their roster this campaign and feel the JackJumpers have been underrated by the bookmakers once again.
At home and coming off a thoroughly encouraging first up clash, I expect the hungry JackJumpers to put in another honest performance and to push the Kings all the way in this one. I believe it should be the JackJumpers who are the slight favourites in this meeting and as such, I’m happy to back them in to get the job done.
Tasmania JackJumpers to Win
$2.10 (2 Units)
