I don't envy the online betting agencies such as Sportsbet and Centrebet when it comes to setting the odds for the NBL this season. Underdogs are coming away with wins, the assumed safe home teams are capitulating at times and we are often seeing quarters where teams struggle to score double figures. Betting on the underdogs seem to be a reasonable bet in most cases and that was my take on New Years Eve.
The Cairns Taipans hosted the Melbourne Tigers and were given underdog status despite having a 8-2 record on their home court which included a 15 point win over Melbourne just a few weeks earlier. Melbourne have Chris Anstey back in their side and managed to pick up an uninspiring win versus a McKee-less Wollongong but to put Melbourne in as the favourites was a massive slap in the face for a Cairns team with a 80% home record. The fact they came away with a 7 point win was no surprise and I think Melbourne still have a lot to do before the sportswriters can talk any further about their finals hopes.
The Townsville Crocodiles hosted the Perth Wildcats with the latter being given odds of $2.95 for a win. I couldn't help but get on this one and at 3 quarter time the cats held an 11 point lead and victory was all but mine. However, the final quarter saw the Crocs run away with it as they outscored the Wildcats 28-8 in the final stanza. The cats have shown they can go missing for a quarter here and there but after convincingly winning the first 3 quarters that's an impossible one to predict.
The final underdog within the group was the New Zealand Breakers as they took on the Gold Coast Blaze. After losing their opening home game, the Blaze have been undefeated at home and extended their record to 9 straight wins at home. An interesting point going in tot he match was that the Breakers had lost their last 3 home games whilst winning their last 3 away matches. Despite the pre-season tag of "Championship favourites" the Breakers continue to disappoint and with the normally reliable Kirk Penney and Rick Rickert combining for 7-27 from the field NZ just didn't have enough.
I'll be honest and admit to putting a multi-bet on all 3 underdogs to win by 2.5 points or more. At one stage, Cairns had won, the Wildcats were up by 11 and the Breakers were only down by 5 and I was in with a reasonable chance despite the 1/36.5 odds. Alas as its been all season, the NBL is pretty hard to tips, hats off to Centrebet for getting 2 out of 3 on New Years Eve.
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