The NBL24 Grand Final series continues and potentially concludes on Thursday night when the Tasmania JackJumpers take on Melbourne United in Game 4. The JackJumpers currently lead this best-of-five series 2-1 and will play host to United in front of an excited yet anxious crowd at MyState Bank Arena. As always, we have you covered with our full game preview and best bet below!
NBL24 Grand Final Preview & Betting Tips
Tasmania JackJumpers vs Melbourne United (Game 4)
Thursday 7:30pm AEDT, March 28th, MyState Bank Arena
With this best-of-five championship series tied at 1-1 heading into Game 3, a close contest at John Cain Arena was expected by most and boy did it live up to expectation.
It tossed up many twists and turns and every second of the 40 minutes on the game clock was required, but ultimately it was the JackJumpers who secured the crucial road win to take a 2-1 series lead and move just one win away from their first every NBL championship.
The method of victory was certainly surprising – a near half-court heave with a little over a second remaining – but perhaps it was of no surprise as to who came up with the game-winner. Jack McVeigh has been clutch all year and it doesn’t get any more clutch than that!
McVeigh has put together a scintillating post-season and has scored 13+ points in all seven games. On top of that, he’s led the JackJumpers in scoring in each of their two wins this series.
Another positive for the JackJumpers has been the recent play of Majok Deng off the bench. He poured in 15 points in just 17 minutes in Game 3, and was of course the hero in Game 2 of the semi-final’s series against the Wildcats when he scored 18 points in 17 minutes.
For United, Matthew Dellavedova found his stroke in Game 3 with 21 points after struggling to find his touch in the opening two games. Chris Goulding also continued his strong post-season with 17 points and is currently the highest scorer in the series at a tick under 20ppg.
Game 4 prediction: The bookies have struggled to pick a winner for Game 4 with both teams priced at around the $1.90ish quote, and I certainly don’t blame them for sitting on the fence! It’s been a wild series so far and one that’s been tough to predict. Momentum swings have been enormous, especially in the second halves of games.
However, I’ve been big on the JackJumpers this season, particularly in the latter stages of the regular season and into the playoffs. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games overall and thoroughly deserve to be in the position to close out their maiden NBL championship.
You can expect MyState Bank Arena to be absolutely jumping and what an advantage that is for the JackJumpers. There’s also the element of United believing they just might’ve blown their shot and whether or not they have the character to bounce back from that remains to be seen.
Regardless, the JackJumpers are on the march and it would take an almighty effort by United to deny them the championship on Thursday night.
Tasmania JackJumpers to Win
$1.87 (1 Unit)