Auckland Tuatara vs Nelson Giants Prediction, Tips & Odds – Jun. 24, 2022 09:30 CET
This Friday in the New Zealand NBL we will see the true worth of the league leaders Auckland. For the first time this season they will not be able to rely on their superstar American center Chris Johnson, so others will have to step up if the Tuatara want to remain in title contention. Whether their board will sign a replacement player is still unknown, but what is clear is the fact that Auckland will have a huge hole in their frontcourt starting with today´s game.
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Auckland Tuatara vs Nelson Giants Odds
Spread Odds (-5.5/+5.5): 1.89/1.76
Total Over/Under (169.5): 1.84/1.80
Auckland Tuatara Team News
Auckland are at the top of the table largely because of their unstoppable import center Chris Johnson. For the second year in a row he has left Auckland before the end of the season to play in Ice Cube´s BIG3 league. His departure will be a huge blow because not only does he led the team in scoring and rebounding, but is also the main leader and floor general.
Without his presence the most formidable frontcourt in the league will become significantly weaker and to make things even worse for the Tuatara – his replacement Dan Fotu is still out with an injury. Despite losing a crucial piece, Auckland still have a lot going for them but are no longer the main title favourites without their main scorer. Last year he left right after the end of the regular season and his team immediately got hammered in their first game without him losing heavily in the playoff semi-final to the Wellington Saints.
Another top game from CJ as he heads back to the US.
Safe travels mate and thanks for everything.@nznbl @skysportnz #TuataraBasketball pic.twitter.com/wZCSpfPBkM— Auckland Tuatara Basketball (@TuataraBball) June 16, 2022
Nelson Giants Team News
The team that has been the most pleasant surprise of the season will be definitely looking to exploit the problems the hosts are dealing with. The Giants continue to raise eyebrows across the league after another huge comeback win last week. After failing to keep up with Corey Webster and his Bulls two weeks ago, last Friday they shocked the Wellington Saints at home.
Losing for most of the game it seemed the new-look Saints would get their way but the Giants and their import Jarrod West refused to go down. Thanks to his late heroics his team secured a 97:94 win over the reigning champions and kept themselves close to the top position.
The @GiantsNZNBL take down the @saintswgtn 97-94 in Nelson! 👀@jarrod_west had a huge game with 35 PTS, 5 REB, 10 AST & SIX 3-pointers for the Giants 🙌
Tom Vodanovich recorded 30 PTS & 9 REB for the Saints 🏀#SalsNBL #LetsGo @skysportnz pic.twitter.com/BIrA1SxXsh
— Sal’s NBL (@nznbl) June 17, 2022
Auckland Tuatara vs Nelson Giants Prediction
It is all about how Auckland´s players react to playing without the team´s main star. Chris Johnson has been the main backbone of this Auckland team for almost two years and last year we got a small glimpse of what happens when he unexpectedly leaves.
The Giants already met with the hosts earlier in the season and lost 86:77 at home. For this game they will be stronger for their new import Sam Thompson while the hosts will be without their primary scorer. All is clear here – value is in the away team so we will back them to cover the spread.
Prediction: Nelson Giants (+5.5)
Odds: 1.76
Bookmaker: 20bet
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