NBL Saturday Predictions Round 9, January 29th

NBL22 Round 9 continues on a Saturday and we have a couple of matches to look forward to.

The Cairns Taipans will host the Illawarra Hawks at the Cairns Convention Centre, whilst the Brisbane Bullets take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix at the Nissan Arena.

Here are some NBL Saturday Predictions and NBL Tips for Round 9 of NBL22.

Be sure to check back before each NBL22 Match for NBL Previews, NBL Head to Head Predictions, NBL Tips, NBL Picks and NBL Predictions for each match of NBL Season 22.

A Star Rating is used to show the confidence level of each Head to Head NBL Match Prediction.

⭐ = A Tough Match to Pick

⭐⭐ = A Decent Chance

⭐⭐⭐ = Should Get the Win


NBL Season Prediction Form

NBL TipsResult%
1 Star ⭐15/2268%
2 Star ⭐⭐12/1675%
3 Star ⭐⭐⭐4/580%
Overall Season Tips 31/43 72%

Cairns Taipans vs Illawarra Hawks

Venue – Cairns Convention Centre

Tip Off – 5.30pm EST

Season Record

TeamWin/LossHomeAway
Cairns2-32-10-2
Illawarra5-43-32-1

Season Team Statistics

TeamPPGOpp PPGRebsAssistsTu
Cairns76.878.042.018.218.8
Illawarra89.089.042.415.79.0

Shooting Statistics

TeamFG %3PT %FT %
Cairns42.2%30.5%73.7%
Illawarra43.1%33.9%68.6%

Player Stat Leaders

TeamPointsRebsAssists
CairnsT.McCall 16.3S.Zimmerman 6.5T.McCall 6.8
IllawarraT.Harvey 15.7S.Froling 9.0X.Rathan-Mayes 3.8

Last 3 Head to Head Matches

DateMatchupScore Margin
23rd May, 21Illawarra vs Cairns93-81(Hawks by 12 Pts)
11th April, 21Illawarra vs Cairns82-80(Hawks by 2 Pts)
20th Feb, 21Cairns vs Illawarra101-95(Taipans by 6 Pts)

Quick Facts

  • Cairns have won 9 of their past 10 games at the Cairns Convention Centre
  • Cairns has covered the points line in each of its last 6 games at home
  • Cairns home games have been low scoring so far this season. The combined Game Total average is just 151
  • The Hawks have lost 3 of their past 4 matches
  • The Hawks have won 13 of their past 15 games against the Cairns Taipans

Quick Player Facts

  • Tyler Harvey lights it up against the Taipans. He has averaged 25.4 points in his last 5 matches against them
  • Justinian Jessup has scored 17+ points in 3 of his last 4 matches
  • Antonius Cleveland has had 5+ Rebounds in 5 straight matches
  • Duop Reath has gone cold, averaging just 5 points in his last 3 games
  • Xavier Rathan-Mayes has registered 3+ Assists in 8 straight matches
  • Tahjere McCall has had 6+ Assists in 3 straight matches
  • Stephen Zimmerman has had 8+ Rebounds in 5 straight Matches
  • Majok Deng is averaging 21 points per game in his last 3 matches

Prediction

The Taipans have not protected the ball well this season, averaging a very high 18.8 turnovers per match and had 23 in the loss to the Phoenix. McCall has the ball handling duties, but doesn’t look as confident as a true point guard normally would. They are missing some key players, but will more than likely be competitive again.

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian has said his side needs to improve on the defensive end and this could be the match to regain some confidence defensively.

The Hawks backed up their last loss against the Wildcats and will fancy themselves to do it again, despite being away from home.

The NBL continues to be hard to predict, but the Hawks should bounce back here.

Prediction – Illawarra Hawks (Win) ⭐

Prediction – Game Total Under 167.5


Brisbane Bullets vs South East Melbourne Phoenix

Venue – Nissan Arena

Tip Off – 8pm EST

Season Record

TeamWin/LossHomeAway
Brisbane4-53-21-3
SEM5-23-02-2

Season Team Statistics

TeamPPGOpp PPGRebsAssistsTu
Brisbane85.788.046.815.915.2
SEM85.480.441.715.912.9

Shooting Statistics

TeamFG %3PT %FT %
Brisbane42.1%30.0%71.3%
SEM43.7%36.8%70.6%

Player Stat Leaders

TeamPointsRebsAssists
BrisbaneN.Sobey 17.7R.Franks 9.6N.Sobey 4.0
SEMM.Creek 22.7B.Ashley 7.5X.Munford 4.1

Last 3 Head to Head Matches

DateMatchupScore Margin
15th Jan, 22Brisbane vs SEM100-84(Bullets by 16 Pts)
8th June, 21Brisbane vs SEM94-84(Bullets by 10 Pts)
2nd June, 21SEM vs Brisbane84-91(Bullets by 7 Pts)

Quick Facts

  • The Bullets have lost five of their last six games on a Saturday Night
  • Brisbane Bullets home games this season have a combined Game Total average of 176
  • The Bullets have won 3 of their past 4 matches against the Phoenix
  • Phoenix big man Zhou Qi has been ruled out of this match

Quick Player Facts

  • Mitch Creek has averaged 5 Assists per game in his last 5 games against the Bullets
  • Kyle Adnam has averaged 13.8 points per game in his last 5 games against the Bullets
  • Mitch Creek has scored 19+ Points in 6 of 7 games this season
  • Ryan Broekhoff has averaged 9.5 Rebounds in his last 2 games
  • Robert Franks has had 8+ Rebounds in 5 straight matches
  • Lamar Patterson has had 4+ Rebounds in 5 straight matches
  • Jason Cadee has had 3+ Assists in 7 of his past 8 matches

Prediction

The last time these two sides met, the Phoenix didn’t look 100% fit and struggled. They looked better in their last two matches and made 15 Steals in the win over Cairns.

The Bullets only shot the ball at 12% from the 3 point line in their narrow 82-84 loss to Melbourne United. They looked ok in that match and got a lot of decent looks, but could not convert.

This match is shaping up as a Saturday Night thriller, but the loss of big man Zhou Qi could hurt the Phoenix.

The Bullets will be looking to bounce back after a narrow loss and should shoot the ball at a better percentage.

Prediction – Brisbane Bullets (Win) ⭐