Round 17 of the 2022-23 NBL season heats up on Friday night with a heavyweight clash between the Tasmania JackJumpers and the Sydney Kings.
The Kings are reeling after two unexpected losses while the JackJumpers will be looking for an upset win to secure their playoff spot.
It all points to a dog-fight in the Apple Isle!
Greg Davis is in the thick of the action with his preview and NBL betting tips for the JackJumpers vs Kings here!
Tasmania JackJumpers vs Sydney Kings Betting Tips
MyState Bank Arena, Hobart, Friday 7.30pm AEDT
During his legendary AFL/VFL playing and coaching career, Leigh Matthews was a fan of the old saying that “nothing is ever as good as it seems and nothing is ever as bad as it seems’’.
It’s an old saying because it is as true as the day is long. Lethal doesn’t muck around with rubbish cliches.
Two weeks ago, the Sydney Kings looked too good to be true when they thrashed Brisbane by a record 49 points.
It appeared as though the Kings were a class or two above the rest of the competition and it was a matter of when – not if – they claimed their second-straight title.
It was beautiful basketball to watch as they played at a great pace but with precision, passion and purpose with their head coach Chase Buford declaring after the demolition of the Bullets that this group was only “just scratching the surface’’. It was hard to argue.
Enter Lethal’s truism.
Sydney battled to repel their NSW rival Illawarra just a few days later with a hard-fought win over the Hawks and the Kings have lost their last two outings against Perth (111-104) and New Zealand (93-88) in front of a bumper crowd at Qudos Bank Arena.
Nobody is suggesting the wheels have fallen off the Kings as they still may very well go back-to-back. But two-straight losses proves they are gettable and the 2022-23 crown is not a done deal.
It doesn’t get any easier for Sydney as they face the JackJumpers in Hobart on Friday night.
Tasmania have struggled to put together any significant runs of wins as their form line has gone up and down like a yo-yo. But the Jackies still find themselves on the cusp of a second play-off berth in their second season. A remarkable achievement by any measure by head coach Scott Roth and his men in green.
The JackJumpers snapped Cairns’ six-game winning streak with an 85-77 triumph over the Taipans in the tropics last round.
The Jackies hit 15 of their 29 three-point attempts and had 23 assists for their 30 makes so they are playing some good team basketball and finding their range with three wins in their last four matches.
They play Perth and Illawarra after the Kings and would like to win at least two of those to make sure of their spot in the top six with seven teams clambering for those half a dozen slots.
Sydney belted Tassie by 20 points in their last meeting on December 30 when the Kings shot the lights out (38 from 55 field goal attempts) and won the rebound count 38-20.
You get the feeling the Kings won’t be that good again and the JackJumpers won’t be as bad.
Alternative Bet: Total points – Over 176.5 - $1.91 (Bet365)
Tasmania JackJumpers +5.5
$1.85
