Round 5 in NBL25 concludes on Sunday with two games on the schedule. The first of those pits the two Melbourne clubs against each other once more, with United set to take on the Phoenix at John Cain Arena. As always, you can catch our free game preview and best bet below!
Also, we’re providing previews and expert betting tips for every game of the NBL25 season, so make sure to head over to our NBL Tips page regularly to keep up to date with all of our content.
NBL25 Round 5 Preview & Betting Tips
Melbourne United vs South East Melbourne Phoenix
Sunday 2:30pm AEDT, John Cain Arena
Melbourne United have had a promising start to NBL25 with wins in four of their six games so far. They were utterly dominant last start against the 36ers who were arguably the form team of the competition heading into that matchup. They defeated them by 27 points at John Cain Arena, taking their record at the venue to 2-1 this season.
Coach Dean Vickerman has experimented with a number of different starting lineups for various reasons so far. That will continue to be the case on Sunday with point guard and reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Shei Ili set to miss with a calf injury.
South East Melbourne Phoenix have begun this campaign how they finished the last and enter Sunday’s game with a 0-5 record. Their most recent defeat came against the Bullets in what was a battle of the bottom two, and they came up two points short in that one despite leading by double figures at different stages.
On the back of last season’s struggles coupled with their winless record through the first four rounds of NBL25, Phoenix management decided to part ways with coach Mike Kelly. Assistant coach Sam Mackinnon will step in as the interim head coach and this will be his second stint in such a role.
Game Prediction: Lack of talent certainly isn’t the issue for the Phoenix this season and that’s perhaps why their patience with Mike Kelly wore thin. They have enough quality to be winning games and even pushing for top six, which is where a number of pundits had them finishing in their preseason predictions.
The loss of Ili is a big one for United as he is the head of the snake from a defence perspective. I don’t think his absence has been accurately reflected in the odds, with the Phoenix currently given a 9.5-point start in the handicap market.
Time and time again we see teams put in inspired performances in their first game after a coaching change, and that’s every chance of happening here. Sprinkle in the loss of Ili, and I’m happy to be with the Phoenix to cover the line.
Phoenix +9.5
$1.90 (1 Unit)
