Round 3 in NBL25 begins on Thursday night with the Adelaide 36ers welcoming the South East Melbourne Phoenix to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Both clubs are in desperate need of a win to kickstart their season, and we have you covered with a full preview and best bet for the game below!
Also, we’re providing previews and expert betting tips for every game of the NBL25 season, so make sure to head over to our NBL Tips page regularly to keep up to date with all of our content.
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NBL25 Round 3 Preview & Betting Tips
Adelaide 36ers vs SE Melbourne Phoenix
Thursday 7:30pm AEST, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
The Adelaide 36ers have had a disappointing 0-2 start to the season with a loss at home against the Kings followed by a four-point road loss against the Taipans. Last weekend’s loss was obviously the most disappointing of the pair, as they were the hot favourites to get the job done.
The 36ers have some issues with their starting lineup and minutes distribution at the moment. Starting centre Isaac Humphries has been an absolute non-factor in both games, whereas import big man Montrezl Harrell has been fantastic off the bench and simply must get more minutes moving forward.
There are also some problems with their outside shooting with starting two-guard Sunday Dech providing little offence, whereas veteran Jason Cadee has been really solid in his minutes off the bench. Import point guard Kendric Davis has also struggled shooting the ball so far, although he’s done a decent job creating for others.
Similarly, the South East Melbourne Phoenix have had a horror start to NBL25 with zero wins from three games, placing them on the bottom of the standings. They enter Round 3 with losses against the Wildcats, United, and the Breakers.
There’s a lot of new pieces for coach Mike Kelly to work with this season, so a slow start was always on the cards. His new back court pairing of Derrick Walton Jr. and Nathan Sobey have had a hard time complementing each other and both are shooting the ball at sub 40% through three games.
Import forward Matt Hurt has been a shining light and is currently averaging 18 points on 55% shooting, while Joe Wieskamp has shown off his great stroke from beyond-the-arc on numerous occasions.
Game Prediction: This is a tough betting game because both teams are struggling and there’s a decent chance their coaches make some lineup changes as a result. Like the odds suggest, I do give the 36ers the slight edge on their home deck, especially if Harrell sees more game time and gets the crowd involved. However, I’ll only place a small bet on the line due to the reasons above.
Another play I don’t mind here is Lat Mayen in the points markets. He has a new starting role with the 36ers and has seen 28mpg to date, up from 17mpg at Cairns last season. I think he’s worth having something on in the 12+ and 15+ points market at SlamBet
Also Backing:
Lat Mayen 12+ Points $2.20 (0.5 Units)
Lat Mayen 15+ Points $3.70 (0.25 Units)
Adelaide 36ers -4.5
$1.92 (0.5 Units)
