Taipans and United open NBL round 14 tonight

FOUR NBL teams, including cellar dwellers Cairns Taipans, will play double-up games to complete the 2024 portion of the 2024/25 season. Round 14 begins tonight with one game a game over the next five days before a double-header on New Year’s Eve to cap off a remarkable start to the year.

The Taipans begin their 14th round with a game against second-placed Melbourne United before facing the bottom two against the New Zealand Breakers on New Year’s Eve. We preview the competition between the Snakes and United.

Cairns Taipans vs Melbourne United

Cairns Convention Centre, 7:30pm AEDT

Although the finals appear to be over and done with for the Taipans, barring a ridiculous turnaround and an unbeaten run to the end, they will look to dent United’s two best chances with an upset at home tonight. The Taipans have lost 13 in a row after starting the season brightly 3-1, although United have also endured a difficult stretch with four defeats in a row and are now 12-8 after falling to the top spot Hawks have given up. They can temporarily regain control with a win after beating the Taipans by 43 points in the last game between the two teams.

Chris Goulding has been in brilliant form of late, with the experienced Electric veteran scoring four out of nine from the three-point line in his last match against Tasmania JackJumpers earlier this week. The visitors have a very balanced line-up and the Taipans have to defend the points in the field while defending well at the edge.

The Taipans moved closer to a win against the Brisbane Bullets on December 20, trailing the Brisbane Bullets by three points. Rob Edwards and Pedro Bradshaw combined to go 8/17 from long distance along with 49 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Adam Forde’s side will be looking for more support across the board as they have struggled with injury problems this season.

Although United can exploit the Taipans in many ways, Cairns struggles when it comes to rebounds conceded, ranking 10th in the league when it comes to rebounds. However, the biggest threat to the Taipans will be assists, with United leading the league in finding dimes (21.6 per game) compared to Cairns, who are dead last (15.6).

Taran Armstrong (five assists) and Tanner Groves (four) were the Snakes’ favorites against the Bullets, but Cairns only had 13 assists for the game, meaning without those two assists the visitors struggled to find an open one against Edwards and Bradshaw Achieve performance even in a close game. Armstrong, in particular, is the facilitator who collected eight assists for 24 points in the Taipans’ last home game against the Wildcats, but that ended in a 36-point loss as a guy named Bryce Cotton scored 44 points.

While Goulding is a crucial shooter for United, Melbourne have plenty of other options to share the load, with Ian Clark putting up consistent numbers in recent weeks. Fellow backcourt player Shea Ili also tends to play a balanced game, while veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova applies pressure and can pass the rock with ease. If Jack White can find his best form, United are arguably the team to beat this season.

TIP = Melbourne United by 10 points