Every game of the 2020-21 NBL season is LIVE, FREE and in HD via SBS On Demand, with select games also live on SBS VICELAND.
Sydney Kings v Melbourne United
1. Melbourne need to be Ware-y
Sydney’s star point guard Casper Ware always brings his A-game in match-ups with his former team.
Last year he averaged 28.8ppg against United in the regular season and in their only clash this year he had 21pts and was huge in crunch time.
2. Jarell Martin v Jock Landale
Clash of titans – the first meeting between these two elite bigs.
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Perth Wildcats v Cairns Taipans
3. Slumping snakes
The Taipans have lost 6 of their last 7 games, including their past three in a row, and are on the bottom of the ladder.
4. Cam Oliver v John Mooney
The league’s two leading rebounders doing battle under the basket.
South East Melbourne Phoenix v Adelaide 36ers
5. Life without Creek
South East Melbourne’s leading scorer and rebounder, Mitch Creek, was charged with assault by Victoria Police earlier this week.
He is not currently training/playing with the Phoenix having been relieved of his duties pending the results of an investigation by Basketball Australia’s Integrity Unit.
Brisbane Bullets v New Zealand Breakers
6. Big roster changes
The Breakers have released star import Lamar Patterson and, in his place, signed American wing Levi Randolph out of the NBA G League.
They also recently signed Boomer Will McDowell-White, plus short-term injury replacement Jeremy Kendle.
7. Sensational Sobey
Brisbane guard Nathan Sobey strengthened his MVP credentials last week with two enormous scoring games.
Sobey scored 30pts in Brisbane’s win over Adelaide and then put 35 on the board in a loss to the Kings – the highest individual scoring total of the season so far.
Melbourne United v Illawarra Hawks
8. Streaking
The Hawks enter this game on a two-game winning streak, having closed out their NBL Cup campaign with impressive wins over Sydney and Melbourne.
Depending on the result of their game in Sydney on Friday night, United could be coming in to this one on a four-game losing streak.
Sydney Kings v Cairns Taipans
9. Dominant forces
Last time these teams met Sydney rookie DJ Vasiljevic and Cairns big man Nathan Jawai were dominant forces for their teams.
Jawai was unstoppable down low and finished with his first game scoring over 20 points since February 2017.
Vasiljevic scored a career-high 32 points on the back of a scinatillating long-range shooting display that saw him go 5-of-5 from the land of plenty.
Perth Wildcats v Adelaide 36ers
10. Comeback kings
When these teams met last week, the Wildcats pulled off one of the greatest come-from-behind victories we’ve seen in the NBl for a long time, storming back from 26 points down to win by 7.
