The Tasmania JackJumpers (10-10) departed Hobart on Wednesday for potentially one of their most important road trips of the season.
They headed to Perth for a Thursday night matchup with the Wildcats (14-6) at Perth Arena. Then back up 36 hours later facing against the Brisbane Bullets (7-13) at Nissan Arena.
With only eight games remaining in the regular season, the 6th placed JackJumpers need to limit their losses to remain in touch with the top four.
Things are getting tight in the 🔝 4⃣ 👀#NBL22 ladder hoisted by @AAMI 🪜 pic.twitter.com/H9h7RFr9lB
— NBL (@NBL) March 20, 2022
Perth Wildcats, Perth Arena Thursday 9.30pm AEDT (6.30pm local)
Previous matches
JackJumpers 83 @ Wildcats 101, 19 December 21
Wildcats 89 @ JackJumpers 78 , 28 February 22
The JackJumpers kick things off the hard way, trying to win in one of the toughest venues in the NBL. In their third and final regular season meeting, the Wildcats will look to make it a 3-0 clean sweep of the JackJumpers.
The Wildcats are on the of the hottest teams in the NBL, currently riding a 6 game wining streak. The streak began with victory over the JackJumpers in Hobart on February, and would love for that to continue as they chase down Melbourne United for top spot on the ladder.
Slowing down their import duo of Cotton and Law will be the focal point for Tasmania. The two imports have averaged 56 points between them across their last 3 matches. Last time Tasmania held them to a respectable 39 points, but it was contributions from big man Matt Hodgson (15 points) and athletic guard Luke Travers (16 points) that was the difference.
With Magnay again unlikely to play, the JackJumpers depth will be tested with their bigs. Last time they were outmuscled 49-30 on the glass, and gave up too many second opportunities to the Wildcats.
After a disappointing game against the Hawks last week, that resulting in their biggest loss of the season, Coach Scott Roth will be keen to turn the corner with an upset in the west.
JackJumpers guard Josh Adams top scored last week, but was made to work hard for his points by Illawarra being forced to convert a number of tough shots around the basket. He’d love to return to his natural game of hitting shots from outside and driving to the hoop for shots from the foul line. The foul shots have dried up in recent time for Adams, after averaging 4.8 attempts a game through the first 13 games, he has only averaged two per game in the final 7 matches.
Brisbane Bullets
Previous matches
Bullets 74 @ JackJumpers 83 , 3 December 21
JackJumpers 86 @ Bullets 94, 19 February 26
Despite Tasmania travelling back across the country to play the Brisbane in Brisbane, they won’t be doing it alone. The Bullets are also playing an away game Thursday night against the NZ breakers in Cairns.
With the playoff hope all but gone, the Bullets will still look to give their local fans a chance to cheer them home for 2022. In addition 10 of the Bullets roster are free agents at the end of the season, and will be looking to show coach James Duncan that they should be the first guy singed for season 2023.
This will be the final meeting of the regular season for both teams. The matches are spilt at 1-1 with the home team taking the win on both occasions. Their most recent meeting in Brisbane four weeks ago saw Bullets win on the back of a true team performance, with five players scoring in double figures. Meanwhile McVeigh and McInitosh combine for 42 of the Tasmania’s 86 points for the match.
But with key scoring Sobey out for number of weeks the JackJumpers will fancy themselves a shot at another away scalp and stay in the playoffs race.
The match is a clash of styles, Tasmania’s defense focus game against the Bullets all out offence. Currently the JackJumpers are leading the NBL with the lowest points per allowed per game (78.7 ppg) compared and the Bullets who are 2nd last 87.2, Meanwhile flipping it to total points scored, the Bullets have Tassie well covered averaging 83.4 a game to 77.8.
With this the second game in three days for both sides, the benches will also play a key role. LAst time the played bullets Deng Deng exploded for 10 points in the opening quarter, to a season high 14. While McIntosh was the target inside for the JJ’s with 21 points on 9/11 shooting.