Round 13 in the exciting NBL24 season continues on New Year’s Eve with a double-header. The second game of the evening will see the Cairns Taipans take on Melbourne United. We provide our full game preview and free best bet 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.
NBL24 Round 13 Preview & Betting Tips
Cairns Taipans vs Melbourne United
Sunday 7:30pm AEDT, December 31st, Cairns Convention Centre
Struggling for form and momentum in NBL24, the Cairns Taipans will be hoping they can end the year with a bang with a win on New Year’s Eve. They enter their matchup with Melbourne United on a two-game losing streak, and are yet to string more than two wins together all season long.
The Taipans were disappointing in their most recent outing against the Kings where they failed to fire a shot in their 19-point road loss (82-101). It was the fifth time from their last six games where they’ve conceded 100+ points which is the most in the competition over that span.
In contrast, Melbourne United have had no such issues finding form and momentum in NBL24. They’re currently on a four-game win streak and have lost only three times from 17 outings. United are three games clear at the top of the standings and are close to odds-on favourites to win the championship.
United played their part in perhaps the game of the season last outing when they defeated the Wildcats by six points in overtime in the Open Air Game. United have now reached the 100+ point mark in six straight games which is unrivalled over that span.
Match prediction: These teams met only a couple of weeks ago in Melbourne and it was the Snakes who came away with a surprising 12-point win (103-115) despite being the massive underdogs. United have gone on to win four in a row since that game while the Snakes have gone 3-4.
While the Snakes are clearly dangerous in this matchup having one last time, United are the deserving favourites to get their revenge. Their offence has been firing on all cylinders of late while the Snakes defence has been the leakiest in the competition. This should result in a fairly comfortable win for United on Sunday night.
Melbourne United -4.5
$1.87 (2 Units)
