Round 5 of the 2021 NBL season gets underway on Wednesday night with the first of eight games for the round. There’s action on every day up until Sunday night and we’ve got you covered here with our best bets for some of the key matchups. Check them out below and good luck if following!
NBL Round 5 Betting Tips
SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Perth Wildcats
Thursday 7:30pm AEDT, State Basketball Centre
SE Melbourne Phoenix make good use of their first home game of the season when beating the then undefeated Hawks in Round 4. It’s been a mixed back for Phoenix in their second season in the NBL as they’ve alternated wins and losses through their first six games of the season.
Perth Wildcats led the undefeated Melbourne United by five points at half time in their most recent outing, but weren’t able to go on with it in the second half as they eventually lost by four points. Bryce Cotton continued his hot start to the season with a 24/7/6 line, but he had little help from his teammates in the scoring department.
These clubs have already met each other twice this season and the series is tied at 1-1. The Wildcats will rue a missed opportunity at the death in their recent meeting and will be out for revenge here. We’re expecting another close affair with both teams having chances to win, which makes Wildcats at the line the value play.
Perth Wildcats +4.5
$1.90
Sydney Kings vs New Zealand Breakers
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, Qudos Bank Arena
Sydney Kings kicked into gear last start against the 36ers, destroying them by 19 points in a wire-to-wire victory. It was a great bounce-back games for the Kings after losing to the 36ers just a couple of days prior. Casper Ware found his range with six triples, while Jarrell Martin was back to his dominant best.
New Zealand Breakers kicked off Round 4 with their first win of the season when defeating the Taipans by six points; however, the Taipans got revenge just a few days later with a big 15 point win. Lamar Patterson’s struggles have seen him relegated to the bench for the 1-3 Breakers.
Both of these teams have had less than ideal starts, but the Kings certainly look the better of the two. Casper Ware and Jarrell Martin are both firing and that spells danger for a Breakers team that is getting little production from their stars. We have the Kings rolling on with another big win.
Brisbane Bullets vs Adelaide 36ers
Saturday 8pm AEDT, Nissan Arena
Brisbane Bullets were no match for the undefeated Melbourne United in their only Round 4 game, going down at home by 13 points and giving up 109 points along the way. It was a disappointing way for their two-game winning streak to come to an end and it has them slip to 2-3 on the season.
Adelaide 36ers had cooked up an impressive three game winning streak coming into their Round 4 matchup with the Kings, but that streak came to an abrupt end with a blowout loss. Import Donald Sloan’s 36ers career came to an end after that game, so the 36ers will be running a little thin until they make another marquee signing.
Here we have two decent ball clubs that should be around the mark this season in terms of a finals berth. Both clubs have struggled on the defensive end for the most part in their small sample size, but a lot of that has to do with how fast they play on offence. We’re expecting a high-scoring game on Saturday night that sees the total points sail over the line.
