Round 10 in NBL25 begins on Thursday night with a standalone game that pits the Illawarra Hawks against the New Zealand Breakers. Both clubs have had extra time to prepare and plan for this matchup, so we should be in for a high-quality contest. As always, we bring you our full game preview and best bet below. Good luck to everyone following along!
Also, we’re providing previews and expert betting tips for every game of the NBL25 season, so make sure to head over to our NBL Tips page regularly to keep up to date with all of our content.
NBL25 Round 10 Preview & Betting Tips
Illawarra Hawks vs New Zealand Breakers
Thursday 7:30pm AEDT, WIN Entertainment Centre
The Illawarra Hawks enjoyed a blistering start to the season with wins in five of their first six games before hitting a bit of a road block. They lost three of their last five games before heading into the international break, although they were last start winners over the Kings (86-79), which made it four straight wins in the Freeway Series.
Some of the Hawks struggles appeared when Trey Kell went down with a back injury for a couple of weeks, but he’s now fit and firing and poured in a team-high 19 points last start, while also adding four rebounds and five assists. South Korean sharpshooter Hyun-Jung Lee was also highly impactful with a quickfire 16 points.
The Hawks resume from the international break with a game in front of their home fans at the WIN Entertainment Centre. They’ll be aiming to secure back-to-back wins at the venue for the first time this season, where they currently hold 3-2 record.
The New Zealand Breakers began the season in similar fashion, recording wins in three of their first four games. They did of course take part in the NBLxNBA series between Rounds 3-4, so they’ve only taken part in a league-low 10 games so far, whereas teams such as Melbourne United have already played 14.
Regardless, the Breakers have put together a great first third of the season with seven wins to their name. They were also last start winners against the Snakes in what was the ultimate slugfest, as they prevailed 77-69 on the road. The Breakers are now 3-2 on the road this season which also mirrors their record in New Zealand.
There’s been some moving parts for the Breakers during the break, with Freddie Gillespie departing under interesting circumstances. However, his departure freed up an import slot and has allowed the Breakers to sign 7’6” centre, Tacko Fall. He’s sure to be a fan favourite, although his availability for Round 10 remains up in air.
Game Prediction: It’s 3rd vs 2nd here in what should be a cracking game to open Round 10 of the eventful NBL25 season. I’m almost certain we’re in for a high-quality contest with this one, especially considering both clubs have had extra time to both rest and prepare.
The Breakers have proven me wrong on a couple of occasions this season but I’m prepared to oppose them again here. The loss of Gillespie is a big one on the defensive end as he was their only true rim protector, and I can’t see Fall playing many minutes (if any) in this one.
On the flip side, the Hawks are on their home deck and have a clean bill of health, and we saw in the first half-a-dozen games this season just how potent they are with all their weaponry available. I expected the line to be more in the 6-7 range here, an am more than happy to back them heavily at the current -3.5 line.
Hawks -3.5
$1.80 (2.5 Units)
