Friday night’s NBL24 double-header concludes with a blockbuster clash between the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United. With both clubs currently 2-1, this promises to be a cracker! We provide our full game preview and best bet for the game 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. Alternatively, you can access the rest of our NBL Round 3 betting tips here!
NBL24 Round 3 Preview & Betting Tips
Perth Wildcats vs Melbourne United
Friday 9:30pm AEDT, October 13th, RAC Arena
A kind schedule to start the season has helped the Perth Wildcats begin NBL24 on the front foot. They’ve been on their home floor in two of their three outings and will be at the Jungle once again this Friday night. They enter Round 3 with a 2-1 record having won both games at home and lost their only venture on the road.
Last time out the Wildcats took care of the lacklustre 36ers, defeating them 82-75 in a relatively easy wire-to-wire win (82-75). Next Star Alex Sarr was ultra-impressive once again, pouring in 16 points in 20 minutes off the bench including a couple of timely threes. Import Jordan Usher has also made a nice start to life in Perth and is currently averaging 21 points per contest.
Likewise, Melbourne United have made a promising start to the season with two wins from three games. In fact, they too have played twice at home and once on the road, and they’ve played the same three opponents as the Wildcats (Phoenix, 36ers, JackJumpers).
Coach Dean Vickerman has had a tough time sorting out his rotations early in the season simply due to how deep his squad is, particularly at the guard positions. Matthew Dellavedova, Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, and Ian Clark are all fighting for starters minutes, while Flynn Cameron has shown he can also step up and play at NBL level as a backup point guard despite being a rookie.
Match prediction: It’s tough to split these teams considering they have identical records against identical opponents, although the Wildcats are currently the slight favourites with the bookies due to the fact they’ll have the home support. As a result, I’ll be avoiding playing into the head-to-head and handicap markets as I just can’t see any value in either.
Instead, I believe there’s potential money to be made by taking the unders in the total points market, with the line currently sitting at 177.5 points at Ladbrokes.
United have done a great job early in the season of controlling the tempo and playing at a slower pace which suits their offence. In their three games to date there’s been a total of 149, 156, and 155 points scored. Yes, the Wildcats love to push the ball in transition when the opportunity arises, but I still don’t see why the total should be as high as 177.5 points. On top of that, three of the last four meetings between these teams have gone under the current line.
With all of that said, I’m only comfortable staking 1 unit on the unders, as it’s still very early in the season and there will be better betting opportunities to come.
Under 177.5 Points
$1.90 (1 Unit)
