Round 7 in NBL25 begins on Thursday night with an epic matchup between Melbourne United and the Sydney Kings. Both ball clubs are expected to be competing for the ultimate glory at the business end of the season, so this should be a fun one to get a big round of action underway. We bring you our 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 7 Preview & Betting Tips
Melbourne United vs Sydney Kings
Thursday 7:30pm AEDT, John Cain Arena
Melbourne United are coming off a terrific Round 6 where they won both of their games, which was the perfect response after a disappointing defeat in the Throwdown in the week prior. United began Round 6 with a gutsy five-point win against the Hawks despite being without guards Matthew Dellavedova and Shea Ili, before destroying the undermanned Snakes at home on Sunday.
United have now launched into second spot on the ladder with a 6-3 record, which has them narrowly worse off than the top-ranked Hawks (6-2). United also have the best points differential in the competition at +94, largely due to their recent 43-point win against the Snakes.
On the injury front, Matthew Dellavedova has now fully recovered and is expected to return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench last start. Shea Ili has also fully recovered after missing the past couple of weeks, but remains a game-time decision as he’s currently waiting the birth of his child.
In stark contrast, the Sydney Kings had a disastrous Round 6 where they lost both of their games despite being heavy favourites on each occasion. Their first loss came against the Cotton-less Wildcats in Perth, while their most recent defeat was at home against the much hungrier Breakers.
The Kings are now on their first two-game losing streak of the season to date and the pressure is certainly on them to perform on Thursday night. The good news for the Kings is four of their five wins this season have been on the road, so they clearly don’t mind a hostile environment.
A big reason for the Kings woes last round was Jaylen Adams being out hurt. He’s been battling a back injury for a number of weeks now but is a chance to return on Thursday night, and is currently listed as a game-time decision.
Game Prediction: Both clubs are littered with stars and that should make for excellent viewing to get the round underway. United clearly come in with the better form and also have home court advantage on their side. They’re certainly the more trustworthy team at this stage of the season and seem to have a full buy-in from their squad, whereas the Kings are still trying to find their right rotations under coach Brian Goorjian. With that said, I’m more than happy to be on United to cover the small line at home on Thursday night.
United -3.5
$1.81 (1.5 Units)
