Second up in Round 18 of the NBL24 regular season is a Friday night matchup in Adelaide between the Adelaide 36ers and the Sydney Kings. As always, we have you covered with a full game preview and free best bet below. Good luck to everyone following!
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 18 Preview & Betting Tips
Adelaide 36ers vs Sydney Kings
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, February 2nd, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Heading into Round 18 full of momentum and confidence, the Adelaide 36ers will be shooting for their fourth straight win as they continue their push for a top six spot. The 36ers were far too good for the Snakes in their only outing in Round 17, defeating them by 17 points in Adelaide to make it five wins from their past six games, which is by far their best six-week stretch a couple of seasons.
Import Trey Kell has been in superb form of late and is one of the key reasons why the 36ers have made their resurgence, along with Isaac Humphries who has drastically increased his productivity on the offensive end. Still, the 36ers have plenty of work to do if they’re to do the unimaginable and secure a playoff berth, although a win on Friday night would go a long way to achieving their goal.
Trying to build some much-needed momentum of their own are the Sydney Kings. They began the season well and loomed as one of the key championship contenders, but their form in the second half of the season has been nothing short of horrible. They enter this weekend having lost seven of their last 10 games.
However, there have been some signs of life in the Kings camp. They were able to knock over the ladder-leading Melbourne United in their most recent outing in a game where they could some great production from their bench. Makuach Maluach was particularly impressive against United with 18 points, while Shaun Bruce also stuffed the stat sheet off the bench.
Match prediction: These sides met only a couple of rounds ago in Adelaide and it was the 36ers who came out on top fairly comfortably by 13 points (95-82). Trey Kell was the best player on the night with a stat line of 27/7/5, while Jaylen Adams was the best for the losing team with 20 points.
Despite their recent win in this matchup, coupled with far superior recent form, the 36ers have been priced as the slight underdogs for Friday night’s clash. Yes, the Kings are the more talented team on paper, but they simply cannot be trusted. The 36ers are the far better value play here.
Adelaide 36ers to Win
$2.10 (1 Unit)
