Another profitable week for us to start the 2017-18 NBL season as we hit on 2 out of 3 of our tips. We’ll look to carry the form forward here as we preview our NBL Round 3 betting tips!
2017-18 NBL Round 3 Preview & Betting Tips
New Zealand Breakers Vs Sydney Kings (Thursday, 19th October 5:30pm AEST)
The third round of action kicks off this Thursday as the New Zealand Breakers host the Sydney Kings. This identical fixture was played last week, where the Breakers managed to claim a 2-point victory after leading by as many as 13 early in the third quarter. The spark came from their bench in that game as team veteran Kirk Penney filled it up with 25 points on 6/9 shooting from beyond the arc. This will make it three straight home games to start the season for the Breakers, who are still struggling to find offensive consistency, which was what plagued them throughout their underwhelming 2016-17 campaign.
As mentioned above, the Sydney Kings fell 2 points short to the breakers in their clash last week, although they did manage to find some form a few days later as they defeated the Hawks 103-87 to claim their first win of the season. However, the victory was a bittersweet one for the Kings, with star player Kevin Lisch tearing his calf and is set to miss eight weeks of action. This will likely result in extra minutes for 6th man Jason Cadee, who we all know is more than capable of stuffing the stat sheet on a consistent basis. Perry Ellis has been the Kings best player thus far, averaging 21.6ppg through 3 games, including a league high 33 points in their last outing.
The Kings boast a squad filled with offensive weapons in nearly all positions, which is a luxury that is unmatched by the Breakers. We feel Coach Gaze will make a few adjustments after last week’s loss, which will see the Kings come out on top in this one.
TIP: Sydney Kings to defeat New Zealand Breakers - $2.05 at Sportsbet
Brisbane Bullets Vs Cairns Taipans (Friday, 20th October 7:30pm AEST)
The read on the Brisbane Bullets is a bit of a tough one as they will play just their second game of the season when they host the Taipans on Friday night. Their opening match of the season ended in a competitive 10-point loss to reigning champions, Perth Wildcats. The Bullets enjoyed the BYE in the NBL last week as they travelled across the world to take on the Phoenix Suns in Arizona, USA, where they were impressive in a 114-93 loss. Proven NBL star and new recruit Travis Trice has performed well thus far, as have other key pieces Daniel Kickert and Perrin Buford. The main concern around the Bullets roster in the early part of the season is their lack of depth and scoring ability coming off the bench.
Round 2 of the NBL saw the Cairns Taipans come crashing back down to reality, where they were on the wrong side of a 27-point thumping handed out by the Adelaide 36ers. Despite this, the Taipans will still be happy about where they stand, as they boast a 2-1 W/L record after two rounds of action. Big (huge) man Nate Jawai was sorely missed in their last outing, with his presence inside unable to be replicated by his understudies. Import point guard Scoochie Smith (11ppg) has tried hard to get things going for the Snakes, but Cameron Gliddon (9.7ppg) is the man that needs to find his shooting touch in order to propel this Taipans roster from a mediocre team, into a championship contending team.
The Taipans really struggled to get anything going on offense last week without an inside presence, and things will be similar this week with Nate Jawai on the sidelines once again. We feel the breakers will be hungry to get a win in their first home game of the season and should get the job here.
TIP: Brisbane Bullets at the line (-2.5) - $1.92 at CrownBet
Adelaide 36ers Vs Sydney Kings (Saturday, 21st October 5:30pm AEST)
The Adelaide 36ers will become the first team to notch 5 games played this season when they host the Sydney Kings on Saturday. They’re 2-2 for the season with both defeats coming against championship favourites, Melbourne United. The 36ers continue to play at a frenetic pace and have had great success scoring in transition so far this season, as they average an impressive 94.3ppg. However, they have been their own worst nightmare at times, where they’ve looked too tired to get back on defence, which has resulted in them conceding 91ppg. The 36ers play an exciting fast-paced brand of basketball and we can see them posting another high score in this one.
Like the 36ers, the Sydney Kings like to get their points early in the shot clock. They’ve given up a lot of points on the defensive side this season (93ppg), but have also managed to score rapidly, averaging a staggering 94.7ppg. The key for Sydney in this matchup will be to try and make Adelaide run their offense in the half court, which is something only Melbourne have been able to do so far. When Adelaide have been forced to run their offensive sets in the half court rather than freelancing in transition, they have been vulnerable and a lot easier to defend. In saying this, the jury is still well and truly out on whether Sydney have the personnel to do so.
This matchup has all the makings of a fast-paced, offensive-minded, score at will type of contest. We feel the bookies have set the Total Points Over/Under too low here.
TIP: Total Points Over (181.5) - $1.90 at Sportsbet
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