NBL Round 5 kicks off on Thursday night with the Bullets taking on the Hawks and concludes on Monday night with United hosting the Wildcats. We bring you our best bets for all eight games in Round 5 right here!
Also, make sure to check our NBL tips page where you’ll find our best bets for every game of the 2022-23 NBL season!
NBL Round 5 Preview & Betting Tips
Brisbane Bullets vs Illawarra Hawks
Thursday 7:30pm AEDT, Nissan Arena, Brisbane
These clubs are meeting for the second time in four days, but this time it’s the Bullets who are on their home floor. In Monday night’s meeting, the Bullets absolutely dominated the Hawks, particularly on the defensive end where they limited them to just 56 points while scoring 82 themselves. Aron Baynes was a monster in the paint with 17 points and 14 rebounds and Nathan Sobey flirted with a triple-double (11/9/7).
It's hard to be optimistic about the Hawks chances of reversing the result from just a couple of days ago. They will likely welcome new import Peyton Siva to the floor for his first game this season, but it’s unrealistic to expect him to be playing at his best in his first outing on a brand-new roster. With that said, I’ll again be backing the Bullets to cover the spread, but only for 1.5 units.
Brisbane Bullets -5.5
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
Adelaide 36ers vs New Zealand Breakers
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
The 36ers suffered from jet lag in their opening loss to the JackJumpers but have been fantastic since with wins in each of their last two outings. Most recently, the 36ers knocked off the defending champions in Sydney, which showed us they certainly are the real deal.
The Breakers dug deep to knock off the red-hot Snakes in their most recent game, which was a necessary way to bounce back from a poor loss to the Phoenix. They’ve been fantastic on the defensive side of the ball but still have plenty of room for improvement on the offensive end. I’m not quite sure they have enough firepower to take it up to the talented 36ers on the road, so I’ll be siding with the home side with a small wager on the line.
Adelaide 36ers -6.5
$1.88 (1 Unit)
Perth Wildcats vs S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
Friday 9:30pm AEDT, RAC Arena, Perth
These sides come into this Round 5 clash with complete opposite form lines over their last five games. The Wildcats won their first three games but have lost their last two, while the Phoenix lost their first three games but have won their last two. This should make for a very interesting encounter, although a tough one to get a read on from a betting perspective.
I’ll be staying away from the head-to-head and handicap markets for this one, because you just never know what version of these teams will show up. However, one trend that I’ll backing in is for this to be a low-scoring affair. Phoenix have struggled scoring the ball this season, not once scoring 90+ points in a game. Similarly, the Wildcats have scored under 90 points in four of their five games. This matchup should be a bit more of a grind than the market suggests.
Under 170.5 Points
$1.89 (1 Unit)
Illawarra Hawks vs Melbourne United
Saturday 5:30pm AEDT, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
Illawarra enter this game in some of the worst form we’ve seen from any team in recent years. They’ve lost each of their last three games by 25+ points, which is the first time they’ve done that in franchise history. Similarly, Melbourne United are going through some immense struggles at the moment. They’ve lost four of their last five games and three of those losses have been by double-figure margins.
One of these teams will see their losing streaks broken on Saturday night and will hope to kickstart their season. Although United have been bad in recent games, they haven’t been Illawarra bad. As long as visitors bring decent energy to this contest and are locked in defensively, they should be getting the win over this current version of the Hawks.
Melbourne United H2H
$1.77 (2 Units)
Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans
Saturday 8pm AEDT, Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
New Zealand Breakers vs Tasmania JackJumpers
Sunday 2pm AEDT, Spark Arena, Auckland
The Breakers continue to make statement after statement and enter this game second on the NBL ladder. They absolutely dominated the highly rated 36ers on Friday night when they put up a season-high 99 points. Meanwhile, the JackJumpers have been ticking over the win column at a steady rate and are currently boasting a four-game win streak. Most recently, they destroyed Bryce Cotton and the Wildcats by 31 points at home.
Both teams enter this contest in fantastic form, but it’s the Breakers who have been slightly more impressive in my opinion. They’re relishing being back home in front of their fans and have already notched one win at Spark Arena against the JackJumpers this season. I expect them to be too good once again here.
New Zealand Breakers -3.5
$1.90 (1 Unit)
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix vs Adelaide 36ers
Sunday 4pm AEDT, John Cain Arena, Melbourne
Back-to-back one-point wins have seen the Phoenix go ahead of the ledger at 4-3 and into fifth spot in the standings. Mitch creek is back to his best and his supporting cast is also performing a lot better. In contrast, the 36ers are coming off their worst performance of the season when they were blown off the court by the Breakers on Friday night. Continuous turnovers were their undoing, as was a lack of defensive intensity.
This is the first meeting between these teams this season and it’s the Phoenix who are the deserving favourites. They have form and home court advantage on their side, which should be enough to knock off the 36ers on current form. With that said, I’m happy to back the Phoenix in the head-to-head market for a couple of units.
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix H2H
$1.85 (2 Units)
*Previews & betting tips for all Round 5 games will be added once markets are available*
