Sports

NBL – Illawarra Hawks vs Melbourne United

Thursday February 4, 4.30 PM (WST), WIN Entertainment Complex

The scoreboard will be clicking over when the 3rd placed Hawks take on the top of the table United in a classic shootout.

Game Rating – Illawarra 95 v Melbourne 92

The games most talked about hamstring belonging to Kirk Penney seems to have healed well enough for the sharp shooter to return to the court for the Hawks in this tantalizing clash in Illawarra.  Penney has been missing in action for two weeks now and in that time the Hawks have lost some momentum, going 1-2 with losses away to Perth and Adelaide and a home court win against the Sixers.  Illawarra have been home court specialists winning 8-2 past ten games with a stretch of seven wins since they last lost to Perth at home back in Round 7 (96-99).  Conversely United are not great travelers, with last Fridays OT win over the Wildcats in Perth making them 4-6 with wins over Sydney (twice), Cairns and Perth.

Prediction

Make no mistake this will be a shootout so the OVER backers will be in play.  Melbourne lead the series 2-1 with home court wins Round 1 (93-81) and Round 14 (97-96) with Illawarra splitting those wins with a home court victory in Round 9 (102-87).  Melbourne were let off the hook last week by the Wildcats who were coached like they had the game in the bag.  Illawarra come off the Adelaide double header which were both tight games of high quality basketball.  Illawarra to win at home with Game Total OVER.

Suggested Bets

Option 1 – Game total OVER $1.90 (provided line set no higher than 187)

Option 2 – – Illawarra Hawks to win $1.59

Bet suggestions 64 from 87 @ 74%

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