Sports Betting, Sports News, Sports Updates, Australia

Where and When: Friday 9 January, Challenge Stadium, 7.00pm (AWST)
Past Three Head-to-Head

Cairns Taipans 85-101 Perth Wildcats, Round 10 2008.
Perth Wildcats 86-78 Cairns Taipans, Round 9 2008.
Cairns Taipans 93-89 Perth Wildcats, Round 17 2008.

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Season Series
Wildcats 2-0

Current Standings
Wildcats 12-10 (fourth), Taipans 7-14 (ninth)

Perth showed it’s a legitimate championship contender with an impressive nine-point win over ladder leaders the South Dragons and with just six rounds remaining they are well placed to secure a top-four berth.

Perth’s chances of finishing in the top four were give a major boost with the news that skipper Paul Rogers will make his long awaited return from a knee injury that threatened to end his career.

While the Cats are pushing for a place in the top four, the Cairns Taipans find themselves outside the top six and only a slim chance of reaching the playoffs.

For Cairns, big man Ian Crosswhite has been in good form in recent weeks and was his side’s best in the seven-point loss to the Wollongong Hawks in round 16, scoring a team-high 27 points

Crosswhite and fellow big man Martin Cattalini will need to have a big game offensively if the Taipans are going to be any hope of securing a much needed win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Taipans will also need to crash the boards and prevent Perth guard Darnell Hinson from penetrating and creating easy scoring opportunities for his teammates if they are going to contain a potent Perth front court that boasts the likes of Shawn Redhage, Alex Loughton and import Isiah Victor, who won last week’s player of the week award after scoring 25 points and pulling 12 rebounds in the win over the Dragons.

Due to their financial troubles, Cairns is now playing without an import, which means they lack any real scoring depth while the Wildcats have five players who have averaged 12 or more points per game so far this season with Redhage leading the way with 18.8 points per game.

Perth has won 7 of its 10 games at home this season and expect them to make it eight on Friday night.

Cairns will battle hard and remain in touch early but Perth’s multitude of scoring options will prove to be the difference as the match wears on and the Wildcats should cruise to a relatively comfortable win.

This punter believes the smart money on a Perth win by 11+, offering $1.53.