A disallowed buzzer beater prevented us from having a perfect round last week. However, we continue to generate profit and are now looking forward to the upcoming games as we preview our NBL Round 5 betting tips!
2017-18 NBL Round 5 Preview & Betting Tips
New Zealand Breakers Vs Adelaide 36ers (Thursday, 2nd November 5:30pm AEST)
The New Zealand Breakers had a successful week in Round 4, notching an impressive away victory against the Bullets to take their season record to 4-1. Many punters questioned the talent of the Breakers roster after they fell to the Taipans in Round 1, but they’ve been nothing short of excellent since. New import Edgar Sousa has been hailed as an MVP candidate after stringing impressive performances together, while DJ Newbill and Tom Abercrombie have been reliable contributors on both ends.
The Adelaide 36ers come into this contest with a 4-2 record and are in some hot form of their own. They’ve been scoring at will this season and are only going to get better with the addition of import Josh Childress. Childress looked fit and firing in his cameo last round and will likely be rewarded with more minutes this week. Shannon Shorter (16p, 8r, 7a) continues to get better each week and Daniel Johnson (20p, 10r) and Nathan Sobey (17p, 3r, 3a) continue to stuff the stat sheet for the 36ers.
The 36ers run their offense faster than any other team in the NBL, which is shown by their league high average of 95.8 points per game. However, the Breakers are no slouches on offense either, as they currently put up 87.4 points per contest. Expect this to be a fast-paced high-scoring game.
TIP: Total Points Over (177.5) - $1.90 at Sportsbet
Brisbane Bullets Vs Illawarra Hawks (Friday, 3rd November 7:30pm AEST)
The Brisbane Bullets made it two wins from five games when they defeated Melbourne United last weekend. It was a much needed win by the Bullets to keep their season afloat. Travis Trice and Perrin Buford continue to lead the way, but it was Stephen Holt (17 points) and Shaun Bruce (13) who were the difference makers for the home side in their last outing. Coach Andrej Lemanis will see this game against the struggling Illawarra Hawks as a massive chance to earn consecutive victories for the first time this season.
As mentioned above, the Illawarra Hawks (1-5) are really struggling to get things going this season. They had a huge chance to grab a victory against the Kings last weekend in a bottom of the ladder clash, but failed to grasp the opportunity and ended up falling 94-99 at home. Rotnei Clarke (21 points) and AJ Ogilvy (22 points, 11 rebounds) fought hard, while Delvin Johnson (10 points) provided some scoring off the bench. Although they sit alone at the bottom of the ladder, there are still 22 games to be played this season and a big win here could get the ball rolling.
It seems to be a pretty straight forward one here. The Hawks have been extremely disappointing this season, whereas the Bullets have shown signs of being a contender. The Bullets should get the job done here.
TIP: Brisbane Bullets at the line (-2.5) - $1.90 at Ladbrokes
Sydney Kings Vs Illawarra Hawks (Sunday, 5th November 3:00pm AEST)
The Sydney Kings snapped a 2-game losing streak with a team-building 99-94 OT win over the Hawks last week. This brought their season record to 2-4, with a big chance to get their season back on track with another win against the Hawks in this reverse fixture. Their last outing saw Perry Ellis (22 points, 6 rebounds) continue to put in work for the Kings, while Jason Cadee (21 points, 8 assists, 4 steals) finally found his shooting touch. The Kings bench continues to be their Achilles heel, with the lack of scoring options hurting them in sequences of all games so far.
As mentioned above, the Illawarra Hawks have a lot of work to do if they’re to get back in contention this season. Although they lost in over-time last weekend to the Kings, they will be the travelling team this week, which makes the task just that little bit harder.
This match will be our value tip of the week with Sportsbet offering solid value on a comfortable Sydney Kings victory. We feel that if they can get their offense rolling they’ll have too much fire power for the Hawks to handle.
TIP: Sydney Kings Win by Over 5.5 Points - $3.04 at Sportsbet
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