Adelaide 36ers vs Cairns Taipans Verdict
Adelaide at home should be good enough to cover a 7.5-point line against the Cairns Taipans. Bryce Cotton loves facing the Taipans and is backed for 30+ point on his own and to send the 36ers past 99+ points.
- Adelaide have scored 97 points in each of their first two NBL27 games.
- Adelaide have won the last five competitive meetings with Cairns.
- Bryce Cotton scored 29 and 37 points in his opening two games of NBL27.
- Malique Lewis has recorded 5 and 10 rebounds through his first two games for Cairns.
Head to Head
Adelaide have won all five of those meetings and covered the line in four of five, while the Under has landed in three.
Adelaide 36ers Form
Adelaide are 1-1 after two games that could hardly have been tighter. They opened with a 97-95 win over Melbourne United before Elijah Pepper's last-second three handed them a 98-97 loss in Perth on Thursday.
Bryce Cotton has started like Bryce Cotton tends to start. He followed 29 points and seven assists against Melbourne with 37 points, nine assists and four steals against Perth, knocking down seven of his 12 attempts from outside. He's averaging 33.0 points and 8.0 assists through two games.
There's been plenty happening around him too. Zylan Cheatham followed an 18-point, seven-rebound opener with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists in Perth, while Nick Rakocevic has produced games of 14 points and nine rebounds and 20 points and eight rebounds.
Adelaide have scored efficiently enough to reach 97 twice despite dealing with injuries and changing rotations early in the season.
Cairns Taipans Form
Cairns are also 1-1, but their two performances have looked very different. They allowed Sydney to score 111 points in a 21-point opening loss before responding three days later with a 93-87 home win over Tasmania.
Keanu Pinder carried much of the offence against Sydney with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Malique Lewis contributed 13 points and five boards on his Cairns debut.
Against Tasmania the scoring was far more spread out, with Jaylon Brown scoring 20, Kyrin Galloway adding 19 off the bench and Jack McVeigh finishing with 17.
Lewis' role is particularly interesting from a player-prop perspective. He played just over 33 minutes against Tasmania and grabbed 10 rebounds, including three offensive boards, to go with 10 points and four assists.