The second of two games on Saturday night in Round 1 of NBL24 will see the Illawarra Hawks take on the Sydney Kings in a Freeway Series clash. As always, we have you covered with a full game preview and best bet below. Good luck to everyone following!
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. Alternatively, you can access the rest of our NBL Round 1 betting tips here!
NBL24 Round 1 Preview & Betting Tips
Illawarra Hawks vs Sydney Kings
Saturday 8pm AEST, September 30th, WIN Entertainment Centre
Coming off a disastrous season where they managed to win just three games, the Illawarra Hawks will be desperate to get NBL24 underway with a win. Last season’s 3-25 record was the worst in franchise history and the fact they won 19 games and made it to the semi-finals the season prior made it even more disappointing.
However, the Hawks look to be a much stronger team on paper this campaign and will feel as though they can sharply improve on last season’s efforts. Most importantly, guard Justin Robinson is fit and ready to fire after managing only one game in NBL23 due to a knee injury.
Robinson, along with Tyler Harvey and Sam Froling, form a big three for the Hawks that is sure to give opposition teams headaches. As long as that trio can get consistent enough production from surrounding role players, the Hawks will be in decent shape.
The Sydney Kings made it back-to-back Championships when they defeated the Breakers in the NBL Grand Final series in NBL23. They were the best team all season and were able to cash in when the stakes were at their highest.
Like most teams, the Kings have had relatively high roster turnover in the offseason. Reigning MVP Xavier Cooks joined the Washington Wizards in the NBA, so too did sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic. However, NBL22 MVP Jaylen Adams is back in town and along with star forward DJ Hogg, the Kings still have plenty of firepower on offence.
Two-time Championship winning coach Chase Buford also departed the Kings in the offseason and has been replaced by Mahmoud Abdelfattah. Abdelfattah has extensive coaching experience and recently won the Coach of the Year award in the NBA G League.
Match prediction: The Sydney Kings swept the Illawarra Hawks 4-0 in the Freeway Series last season, which is no surprise considering they won the Championship and the Hawks won the Wooden Spoon. However, all four games were extremely close and the biggest winning margin was just nine points.
As mentioned above, the Hawks should be a much better team this campaign. Tyler Harvey and Justin Robinson have the potential to be the deadliest backcourt in the competition, and their firepower alone will give the Hawks plenty of chances to win games. First up and with a totally different roster, I think the Kings are vulnerable on Saturday night.
Illawarra Hawks +5.5
$2 (1.5 Units)
