NBL24 Round 13 continues on Friday night with a juicy matchup between the Sydney Kings and the Cairns Taipans. Both teams could do with a win to cement their spot in the top six which should make for a great contest. As always, we have you covered with our free 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 13 Preview & Betting Tips
Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans
Friday 7:30pm AEDT, December 29th, Qudos Bank Arena
Entering Round 13 on a two-game losing streak are the Sydney Kings. They’re going through a trying period at the moment having lost five of their last seven games which has seen them slip to fourth in the standings and two wins behind the all-important top two.
The Kings looked on their way to notching their 10th straight win against the Hawks in the Freeway Series last weekend, but were outworked and outplayed in the second half to eventually fall by four points. Indeed, it was a less than ideal Christmas for the back-to-back champs.
Elsewhere, the Cairns Taipans fought hard but couldn’t quite get over the hump against the Wildcats last time out, going down by three points on their home deck. Still, the Taipans would be pleased with their performances in recent weeks, with their three wins from their past five games seeing them remain inside the top six.
The Snakes have had a kind schedule of late with six of their last nine games coming on their home deck at the Cairns Convention Centre. They haven’t been able to make the most of it and must now hit the road where, interestingly enough, they’ve won three in a row.
Match prediction: These clubs faced each other in Round 10 and played out an entertaining game in Cairns where the Kings came away with a three-point win (86-83). However, the Kings have lost three of their four games since including each of their last two at Qudos Bank Arena.
The Kings are clearly vulnerable at the moment and that should give the Taipans some confidence when they travel to Sydney on Friday night. As mentioned above, they’ve won each of their last three games on the road and are a better chance to make it four on the spin than the current odds suggest.
Cairns Taipans +6.5
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
