Vickerman expecting tough contests across Round 21

With three games to go in our Hungry Jack’s NBL26 regular season, every moment matters when it comes to securing the best spot possible in the Playoffs.

The first of these trio of games will come on Thursday evening when we go on the road to face the Cairns Taipans from 7:30pm.

Despite winning our past two games at the Cairns Convention Centre, including a 27-point victory in Round 6 this season, Head Coach Dean Vickerman is making sure the group is prepared for a challenging matchup.

“The last road game of the regular season and Cairns have been playing some really good basketball,” he said.

“They were super competitive against Perth, (had a) heavy lead against Sydney and won their last one so (they) challenge you in some shooting areas and obviously McVeigh's had a hell of a year so I’m really looking forward to going up there.”

Following this, we will return home for a Grand Final rematch with the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday from 2:30pm.

While the Hawks’ path to a final Play-In spot looks difficult, Vickerman knows that both them and the Taipans will bring a lot of fight.

“Every team in the league right now has continued to compete to either win their fans for next year, to work for a contract, whatever it is.

“Cairns beat us last time in a really tight game and they'll have a strong belief that they compete in front of their home crowd… We know we're in for a great contest. 

“Illawarra, there's still a chance for them to make the playoffs so they'll be fighting for every possession.”

Fans can tune in to every second of both games live via ESPN.