NBL24 Round 12 begins on Friday night with an epic double-header. The second game of the night will see the Cairns Taipans take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix! We provide our full game preview and best bet below!
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 12 Preview & Betting Tips
Cairns Taipans vs SE Melbourne Phoenix
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, December 22nd, Cairns Convention Centre
Round 11 was a mixed bag for the Cairns Taipans who were in action on two occasions. They began the round with a demoralising 29-point home loss against the Breakers, but bounced back with a thrilling one-point road win against the Bullets.
Inconsistency from game to game has plagued the Taipans so far in NBL24. They traded wins and losses in each of their last six games and haven’t recorded back-to-back wins since Round 2. Still, they currently sit in sixth spot in the standings which is good enough to earn a Play-In spot under the current format.
Similarly, the South East Melbourne Phoenix have struggled for form in recent weeks, particularly last weekend when they were soundly beaten in both of their games. They began Round 11 with an embarrassing 28-point loss against United in the Throwdown, and fell by the exact same margin a couple of days later against the Hawks.
Injuries have plagued the Phoenix this season and that continues to be the case. They will be without perennial MVP candidate Mitch Creek this week, which is a massive blow for their winning chances. Looking to fill the void will be new import signing Abdel Nader, although he’s played very little basketball over the past two years and may take a while to get his feet under him.
Match prediction: These clubs have already met twice this season and both teams were able to take care of home court with a win. In fact, the home side has now won each of the last four meetings between these sides and all four wins have been by at least five points.
Looking ahead to Friday night’s meeting and it’s not hard to see why the Snakes are listed as the clear favourites. Not only do have the all-import home court advantage, but they also take on a Phoenix outfit that has lost their last two games by 28 points apiece, and will also be without their best player in Creek. With all of that considered, I’m more than happy to be on the Snakes to win and cover the small spread here.
Cairns Taipans -4.5
$1.92 (2 Units)
