Cairns Taipans vs Illawarra Hawks Live Stream & Tips - Hawks to make a winning start at NBL Hoops Fest?

Jeremy Darke

Editor

Last updated: 19 Sep 2024

Jeremy Darke 19 Sep 2024

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Cairns Taipans vs Illawarra Hawks expert predictions for Saturday’s Round 1 NBL matchup
Hawks are favorites to win the season opener against Taipans
Cairns lost all 4 of their preseason matches and have key players missing

Expired

Hawks backed on Saturday (Getty)

Cairns Taipans vs Illawarra Hawks Preview

The Illawarra Hawks had a strong end to NBL24 and can start the new season with win over Cairns Taipans. The Hawks to cover at Hoops Fest on Saturday is the best bet.

Cairns lost all 4 preseason matches at the NBL Blitz.
Illawarra had the third-least turnovers of any team in the NBL last season.
Illawarra scored over 91.5 points in all 3 NBL Blitz matches.
Cairns averaged 92.5 points against in NBL24.

Head to Head

2023/24 Season Series

Cairns Taipans won 2-1

Cairns Taipans Form & Team News

Cairns start the season with the longest odds to win the Championship and will have to begin the year without a starting point guard.

Young star Tarran Armstrong was given the keys to this team but will miss the first two rounds of the season with a calf strain. His replacements Jackson Makoi (2 game ban for drink driving) and Kyle Adnam (4-6 weeks with knee injury) are also missing.

The taipans finished in eighth last season but were just one win away from making the play-in. Coach Adam Forde is renowned for taking his team from the depths and getting the most out of his young players and he will have to do that this season once again.

The addition of imports Tanner Groves at center and Rob Edwards as the 4 or 5 gives Forde som creativity and some options in the offensive game and that showed in the NBL Blitz, however, Cairns still didn’t have the depth to get a win in the preseason tournament losing all 4 of their games.

Illawarra Hawks Form & Team News

The Illawarra Hawks are a dark horse to win the championship in my books.

Coach Justin Tatuml has had a full preseason with the team that he took from the bottom of the ladder to fourth by seasons end in NBL24. His defensive structure is now embedded into his players and they have acquired some key signings that have cover their departures and some.

All-NBL team member Gary Clark moved on from the Hawks but a late preseason signing of Darius Days fills the void of the power forward, while Trey Kell lll has moved from Adelaide to the Shire and can be an integral part of the success of the Hawks if his combination with Tyler Harvey can flourish.

The Hawks had a strong preseason at the Blitz with forward pairing Sam Froling and Lachlan Olbrich doing plenty of damage down low while also finding space and dropping a few threes. If Illawarra are to go all the way the center pairing are going to have to be elite all t season.

Australian NBL Live Streams

Time
Sport
Event
Live

2024/10/10
09:30:00
AM Basketball Cairns Taipans vs Perth Wildcats
Australia NBL
Stream
2024/10/11
09:30:00
AM Basketball Adelaide 36ers vs Sydney Kings
Australia NBL
Stream
2024/10/12
07:30:00
AM Basketball Illawarra Hawks vs Tasmania JackJumpers
Australia NBL
Stream
2024/10/12
10:00:00
AM Basketball SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Brisbane Bullets
Australia NBL
Stream
2024/10/13
04:30:00
AM Basketball Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans
Australia NBL
Stream
2024/10/13
06:30:00
AM Basketball Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers
Australia NBL
Stream
Oop's, We couldn't find events by your search parameters. Please serach with another key.

Verdict

Cairns Taipans v Illawarra Hawks

Illawarra are backed to score over 91.5 points and cover the spread as the 6.5-point favourites.

Illawarra -6.5

Handicap/Line

@10/11 - 3 Units

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Illawarra Over 91.5

Team Total

@17/20 - 2 Units

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