Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers NBL Betting Tips - Take the Sixers for the win

Ryan Tucker

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Last updated: Fri 06 Feb 2026 13:34

Ryan Tucker 06 Feb 2026

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Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers expert predictions for Saturday’s Round 20 NBL matchup
Melbourne United's streak snapped by New Zealand Breakers
Adelaide 36ers drop to second after losing to Illawarra

Expired

Adelaide 36ers are backed as underdogs (Getty Images)

Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers Preview
Melbourne United Win Streak Snapped
Adelaide 36ers Fall To Second On Ladder

Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers Preview

The Adelaide 36ers were outpaced by Illawarra on Thursday but I think they are the value here. Melbourne United's form is up and down, so I'm taking the visitors along with over 183.5 points in the game.

Adelaide’s recent losses have come from not being able to adjust on the fly. They are still in very good form, especially offensively.
The last 3 Adelaide victories over Melbourne have all seen the Game Total go Over this number.
Zylan Cheatham had 13pts and 21pts in his two previous games this season v Melbourne and averages 17.6 over his career against them.
Melbourne have won just 18.2% of games when they trail at half time.

Melbourne United Win Streak Snapped

Melbourne had a 3 game win streak snapped on Friday, losing 97-95 on the road to the New Zealand Breakers. United were slow to start the game and had difficulty slowing down Karim Lopez on the defensive end.

Jesse Edwards had an opportunity to steal the game late but turned the ball over after scoring 23 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the match. Despite his top effort, Melbourne could have used him more in the final few minutes with such a significant mismatch under the rim.

Melbourne have retained fourth spot on the ladder by the slimmest of margins but two of their final four games are against top three opponents.

Adelaide 36ers Fall To Second On Ladder

Adelaide have lost two in a row and three of their last four. They have fallen to second on the ladder and while there are no major sirens sounding right now, it isn’t the type of momentum you want to have heading into a long finals series.

Their most recent game was a 100-99 loss on the road to Illawarra, just their 4th loss away from home this season.

The game was bookended by a poor opening and poor closing quarter where they allowed their opponents to outscore them by six and 10 pts respectively. The 36ers also had 14 turnovers in the match.

Bryce Cotton is still as reliable as ever and there are enough pieces in this short rotation to score and trouble any team in the league, but they have some stuff to work out, especially around in-game adjustments.

Verdict

Melbourne United v Adelaide 36ers

Take Adelaide on the moneyline and the Game Total going Over 183.5 with Adelaide setting the pace. Zylan Cheatham has had a bit of a lull scoring of late but against Melbourne the matchup works and the number is low, take him over 11.5 pts.

Adelaide 36ers

Moneyline

@11/10 - 3 Units

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Over 183.5

Game Total

@9/10 - 2 Units

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Bet at bet365

Z Cheatham over 11.5

Points

@7/8 - 2 Units

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