NBL24 Round 10 continues on Friday night with a single game to look forward to. The Illawarra Hawks will play hosts to the Perth Wildcats in Wollongong in an important game for both clubs. We bring you our full game preview and best bet here!
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 10 Preview & Betting Tips
Illawarra Hawks vs Perth Wildcats
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, December 8th, WIN Entertainment Centre
The Illawarra Hawks have performed admirably in their two games under interim head coach Justin Tatum. Both games have been on the road and both have come down to the wire, with a win and a loss the outcomes.
Although it’s a very small sample size, the Hawks are clearly playing with more intent on the defensive end. In fact, the two games under Tatum have produced their two lowest total points against for the season, with only 65 and 78 being scored on them.
With their defensive issues seemingly sorted, it’s now the offensive end that needs some work. Both Justin Robinson and Tyler Harvey need to increase their output on that end substantially if the Hawks are going to make any sort of meaningful climb up the standings.
In contrast, the Perth Wildcats have been firing on all cylinders on the offensive end over the past couple of rounds. They put up a whopping 114 points against the Kings last start, which is their highest total for the season to date, and the third time they’ve reached triple figures.
After an extremely slow start to the season, superstar Bryce Cotton has hit his straps in a big way. He’s poured in 25+ points six straight games including a monster 41-point performance against the defending champs last start.
Another huge positive for the Wildcats has been the play of Next Star Alex Sarr. Despite only playing limited minutes most nights, the projected #1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft has been highly influential on both ends of the floor, particularly the defensive end where he uses his length to block/change a lot of shots.
Match prediction: Interestingly, this is the first meeting between these teams this season and it’s no surprise to see the Wildcats priced as heavy favourites. They enter this clash on a six-game win streak although only two of them have come on the road and both were extremely tight victories.
Yes, the Wildcats deserve to be favourites on the back of their recent form, but the Hawks are certainly not hopeless here, particularly on their home deck. I’ve love what they’ve produced in their two games under Tatum thus far and am happy to back them in to cover the big spread.
Illawarra Hawks +6.5
$1.92 (2.5 Units)
