The NBL24 regular season will come to a close on Sunday night when the Adelaide 36ers host the New Zealand Breakers in the final game of Round 20. As always, we bring you our full game preview and best bet 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.
NBL24 Round 20 Preview & Betting Tips
Adelaide 36ers vs New Zealand Breakers
Saturday 4pm AEDT, February 18th, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
It’s been another tough season for the Adelaide 36ers who will miss the playoffs for the sixth straight season. There were some positive signs during the second half of NBL24, but ultimately the damage had already been done in the first half where they found wins very hard to come by, especially early on when they started 0-4.
Similarly, the New Zealand Breakers have enjoyed a much better second half of their campaign compared to the first, although they have done enough to secure a spot in the post-season. The Breakers currently occupy fifth spot in the standing but could finish as high as fourth or as low as sixth depending on the results from both the earlier game on Sunday, as well as this one.
The Breakers will be looking to finish the regular season in winning fashion to head into the Play-In games with some momentum. They were able to win a crucial battle against the Bullets last outing (103-87) which made it five wins from their past seven games – the equal best record in the competition over that span.
Match prediction: Regardless of what happens in the earlier game on Sunday, the Breakers will be desperate to close out the regular season with a win to finish as high on the standings as possible to give themselves the best chance of success in the Play-In games. On the flip side, the 36ers have nothing but pride to play for, which hasn’t served them well over their past two games where they have been beaten comfortably.
With all things considered, I’m surprised the Breakers aren’t a lot shorter in the H2H market, as well as the handicap market where they're only giving up a couple of points. They’ll be the more motivated team in this contest and that will go a long way to winning and covering the small spread.
New Zealand Breakers -2.5
$1.90 (2.5 Units)
