The second semi-finals series heads to the Cairns Convention Centre on Friday night for Game 2 between the Cairns Taipans and the Sydney Kings. You can expect another fantastic game, just like we were treated to in Game 1.
Jake Smit previews the game and brings you his best bet below. And be sure to check out our NBL Tips page regularly to find our best bets for every finals game in NBL23!
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Cairns Taipans vs Sydney Kings Preview & Betting Tips
Friday Feb 17, 7:30pm AEDT, Cairns Convention Centre
It’s do or die for the Taipans on Friday night who will be hoping that the home crowd can help get them over the line and extend this best-of-three series to Game 3 in Sydney on Sunday. The Kings, however, will have other ideas and will be eyeing off a series sweep and plenty of rest ahead of the Championship series against either the Breakers or the JackJumpers.
Game 1 of this series was a tale of two halves and one that the Taipans might live to regret. Despite being shorthanded, they led the Kings by nine points at half time on the road, before ultimately losing by eight points.
The Kings went on a game-winning 18-0 run during the third quarter and a lot of their momentum was sparked by Xavier Cooks who was phenomenal once again. The recently crowned MVP finished the night with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and a couple of highlight dunks.
For the Taipans, Joel Antonio stepped up in a huge way, particularly in the second quarter when he poured in 14 points and a number of triples. The clamps were on him in the second half however, which meant DJ Hogg had to carry the load on offence, and he did just that to finish the night with 23 points on 8-19 shooting.
Back-to-back Most Improved Player, Keanu Pinder has been sidelined with injury for a couple of weeks now and won’t take any part in this series. He continues to recover from an orbital fracture he suffered near the end of the regular season.
Tahjere McCall also missed Game 1 for the Snakes but is a chance to return on Friday night, which would be a massive boost for the home side. McCall is battling a shoulder injury and is currently listed as a gametime decision.
These teams have now played each other four times in NBL23 and both teams have won twice. However, the Taipans have only had the luxury of playing the Kings at the Cairns Convention Centre once and they were able to come away with a 94-88 win in that November 28 battle.
The Kings have been a bit shaky on the road in recent weeks with only one win from their last four trips, and have given up an average of 107.3 points across their three losses.
If McCall plays, which I think he will, the Taipans will be confident they can capitalise on the Kings poor recent road form and extend this series to a deciding game. I’ll be backing them in to do just that, albeit for a solitary unit.
Cairns Taipans H2H
$2.18 (1 Unit)
