Then penultimate weekend of the NBL regular season concludes on Sunday afternoon with another edition of the Freeway Series. The Sydney Kings will play hosts to the Illawarra Hawks in a game with massive playoffs implications. We provide a full game breakdown 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 19 Preview & Betting Tips
Sydney Kings vs Illawarra Hawks
Sunday 4pm AEDT, February 11th, Qudos Bank Arena
The Sydney Kings seemed to have taken a step in the right direction in the backend of Round 17 when they took down the ladder-leading Melbourne United by 12 points in an impressive four-quarter performance. However, they followed up with a thoroughly disappointing 78-85 loss against the Adelaide 36ers last start in what was their sixth loss from their past eight games.
The back-to-back champs now have it all to do if they’re going to make it to the post-season to at least attempt to go for a three-peat. They currently sit seventh in the standings and will likely need to win each of their last two games to finish inside the top six. That becomes all the more difficult considering the Kings haven’t won two games in a row since early November.
Unlucky not to be heading into this one on a four-game win streak, the Illawarra Hawks will be quietly confident about their form. They started slow against the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday night but finished the game strong and only fell short by three points in enemy territory.
Similar to their crosstown rivals, the Hawks need to finish the regular season in winning form to ensure they feature in the post-season. They have three games remaining and will likely need to win at least two of those to secure what once seemed to be a highly unlikely playoffs berth.
Match prediction: Despite their extreme inconsistency, poor overall form, and lower position on the ladder, the Sydney Kings are currently priced as the red-hot favourites to secure an important win in this edition of the Freeway series against the Illawarra Hawks.
I’m not quite sure how the bookies have justified their $1.40ish quote, but there’s certainly an opportunity to back the underdogs at a price here. The Hawks defeated the Kings by four points when they last met at Qudos Bank Arena, and they’re certainly in with a shot to double the dose this Sunday.
Illawarra Hawks to Win
$2.80 (1.5 Units)
