The final round of the NBL24 regular season begins on Thursday night in Wollongong with the Illawarra Hawks taking on the Perth Wildcats. We have provided a full game preview and free 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.
NBL24 Round 20 Preview & Betting Tips
Illawarra Hawks vs Perth Wildcats
Thursday 7:30pm AEDT, February 15th, WIN Entertainment Centre
The Illawarra Hawks have been in fantastic form over the past couple of weeks and now require only one win from their last two games to secure a playoff berth. They were too organised and too determined for the Kings in their more recent outing, defeating them 106-95 to make it back-to-back wins in the Freeway Series.
The Hawks have won four of their last five games and currently sit in fourth spot in the standings as we head into Round 20. Overall, the Hawks hold an 11-6 since Justin Tatum took over as interim head coach, which is truly remarkable considering they were 5-32 under previous head coach Jacob Jackomas.
Elsewhere, the Perth Wildcats were huge winners in their last outing against the Taipans (117-88). It was a tightly-contested clash until midway through the third quarter when Bryce Cotton and co. completely took over. Their fourth quarter was utterly dominant where they outscored the Snakes by 22 points (38-16).
On the back of their recent win, the Wildcats have now locked in a top two spot which means they’ll bypass the Play-In games and head straight to the semi-finals. Much like their upcoming opponents, the Wildcats have enjoyed a big turnaround compared to their form in the beginning of the season, which saw them lose five of their first seven games.
Match prediction: Although the Perth Wildcats have enjoyed a more successful NBL24 overall, they’ve struggled in the season series against the Illawarra Hawks and currently trail 0-2. The Hawks will be eyeing off a series sweep on Thursday night, with a win also locking in a playoff spot, which seemed highly unlikely only a couple of months ago.
The Hawks have everything to play for, while the Wildcats have absolutely nothing to play for and could even potentially rest some of their key players. With that in mind, coupled with the fact that the Hawks have beaten the Wildcats by a combined 36 points across their two meetings this season, makes me very keen to have something on the home side here.
Illawarra Hawks to Win
$1.87 (2.5 Units)
