The NBL is in full swing and there’s plenty of value to be found in betting for Round 3 of the competition.
The Bullets face a truly mammoth task in hosting Wildcats on Thursday night and it will figure as a good warm up for the league-leaders, who will then face the reigning champions on Saturday afternoon.
Melbourne will host the final game of the Round when they reigning champions host the Illawarra Hawks.
The NBL action is underway on Thursday when the Bullets and Wildcats trade blows in Brisbane. It’s another mammoth task for the Brisbane club, who have recorded only one win from their three games so far.
A first-up win over the Breakers already feels like a lifetime ago and the Bullets were easily account for by Thursday night’s opponents in the nation’s west, last week.
The Wildcats have clearly been the league’s standout and this looms as another terrific opportunity at points. Three wins from as many appearances has seen them into top spot leading into Round 3 and it’s tough imagining their undefeated run ending in Brisbane.
One of the more intriguing games of Round 3 looks like taking place in North Queensland when the Taipans host the 36ers at the Snake Pit.
The Taipans have only played two games so far this season but were impressive winners in Brisbane first-up, before a somewhat flat performance in front of their fans against the Hawks last week. They face easily the biggest task of the campaign so far here but will take plenty of benefit into the game.
The 36ers have lost two of their four games in season 2018/19, but they have certainly stamped themselves as a team to follow and will be confident of getting the result on the road on Friday.
I give the home side a real shot but it’s tough to tip against the 36ers in games like this one, and they can cover a small line.
The game of the Round comes way of Perth on Saturday afternoon and the Wildcats host the reigning champions Melbourne United.
Plenty will hinge on the Wildcats’ Thursday night performance on the road in Brisbane, but they have been simply outstanding through the first two rounds and I am not anticipating that they will be too troubled there.
Melbourne are slowly warming to the task and carry a 2-1 record into this blockbuster, thanks to a win over the 36ers most recently. David Barlow was outstanding for United, record 15 points to go with five assists and six rebounds.
I’m anticipating both teams to be rock-solid in defence and a tight, lower-scoring fixture might be on the cards.
Illawarra will host the Bullets in what shapes as a competitive Saturday night fixture.
The Hawks put together an impressive four-quarter performance to comfortably beat the Taipans on the road last weekend and they will take plenty of confidence in this game. That performance was in response to a 40-point flogging at the hands of the Wildcats in Week 1, and a repeat of this most-recent effort would find them tough to beat once more.
The Bullets will host the Wildcats in Brisbane on Thursday night and I can’t imagine them taking the spoils there. This looms as a far better opportunity at points and I think that they can finish within a 4-point line.
It’s one of the league’s toughest road trips and the 36ers will need to find their best form if they are to take the win away from the Breakers in New Zealand on Sunday.
The Breakers have not enjoyed their best start to a season on record but a Week 1 win over Melbourne on the road means that they are still in comfortable striking range of the top four. They will need to improve off last weekend’s heavy loss to the Kings at home, however.
This is the second of two tough contests on the road for the 36ers and they may be showing signs of fatigue by this point of the weekend.
The penultimate game of the round will see the Sydney Kings take to the court for the first time, against the Cairns Taipans.
The Kings finally put it all together for a convincing win over the Breakers in New Zealand last weekend and a repeat of that performance would surely them too difficult to beat here.
This is the Taipans’ second game of the Round and plenty will hinge on how they fare against the 36ers on Friday night.
The Kings are under the odds again in head-to-head betting and while they probably win, I think the Taipans can cover an eight-point line.
Round 3 will end in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon when the champions host this year’s wooden spoon favourites, Illawarra.
Both clubs have games slated prior to this one in Round 3 and those performances will give us a far better insight into what to expect here.
Melbourne will be extremely difficult for the Hawks to manage on the road and they look like winning.