NBL26 Round 15

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Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL26 Round 15 Tips - Foxwell orchestrates a big win for the Phoenix

Jeremy Darke

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Last updated: Tue 30 Dec 2025 12:41

Jeremy Darke 30 Dec 2025

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Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix expert predictions for Wednesday’s Round 15 NBL matchup
Tip-off is at 7:30 PM AEDT at Cairns Convention Centre
South East Melbourne Phoenix anticipated to defeat Cairns and regain third place.
SEM leads Cairns with previous extensive wins and strong offense.

Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL26 Round 15 Tips

Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL25 Round 15 Expert Tips

South East Melbourne will regain third place on the ladder with another routine big win against the Cairns Taipans on New Year’s Eve.

Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL25 Round 15 Expert Tips
Head to Head
Cairns Taipans Form & Team News
South East Melbourne Phoenix Form & Team News
Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix Frequently Asked Questions

The Phoenix beat Cairns in Queensland by 11 in the middle of November after dusting them by 37 earlier in the season and will get another double-digit victory with the motivation of coming off a loss to light their fire.

Improvement has been seen from Cairns, but they are still well off the pace of the top four sides in the competition and they will not have the defensive prowess to slow the scoring of the league’s most powerful offence.

Owen Foxwell is finding his feet again and will have a strong game against a weaker offence, becoming the deliverer that he was before his injury.

Expect Foxwell to notch up 4+ dimes while SEM likely score over 100 points and cover the margin as the away favourite.

South East Melbourne have won their last 5 games against Cairns, the last 3 by larger than 8.5-point margin.
Cairns' last 3 losses have been by 10+ margins.
South East Melbourne have scored over 95.5 points in their last 5 matches against Cairns.
Owen Foxwell has had 4+ assists in 9 of his last 11 games

Head to Head

Last 5 Match Results

Date	Home Team	Score	Line	Total Points
14/11/2025	CAI	SEM 101-90	SEM -10.0	O 185.0
20/09/2025	SEM	SEM 114-77	SEM -6.0	O 187.0
14/01/2025	CAI	SEM 113-102	SEM -7.0	O 192.5
07/12/2024	SEM	SEM 99-94	CAI +5.5	O 174.5
10/11/2024	SEM	SEM 97-74	SEM -7.5	U 173.5

Offensive & Defensive Rankings

CNS Off	Rank	Stat	Rank	SEM Def
81.6	10	PPG	5	87.9
38.5	10	RPG	9	43.9
43.3%	9	FG%	8	45.6%
32.8%	4	3P%	7	33.0%
13.1	8	TOV	1	17.8

CNS Def	Rank	Stat	Rank	SEM Off
95.6	9	PPG	1	95.8
44	10	RPG	8	41.8
46.1%	9	FG%	10	42.3%
30.3%	3	3P%	2	34.7%
7.9	10	TOV	3	10.7

Cairns Taipans Form & Team News

Despite a couple of wins lately, against the Breakers and Hawks, Cairns are still well off the pace when facing the top teams in the NBL. Two heavy 20+ point losses to both Sydney and Adelaide are exhibit A in that statement.

There is nothing the Taipans can do to keep up with their opposition if Jack McVeigh doesn’t explode with 30+ points. Andrew Andrews and Sam Waardenburg do their part but the scoring is too dry compared to the consistency of making stops at the other end.

Cairns defence is ninth in the NBL, giving up 95.5 points per game and the most rebounds to their opponents, allowing second chance points that cost them down the stretch.

South East Melbourne Phoenix Form & Team News

South East Melbourne are 4-2 in their last 6 matches with both of their latest losses coming at the hands of the Tasmania JackJumpers.

A slow start, trailing by 16 at halftime, cost the Phoenix a chance of victory on Monday in their latest loss to Tassie, going down 87-84 it what was a Sobey three-pointer away from overtime, with the Phoenix leading scorer missing 2 open shots from the perimeter in the final 5 seconds of the match.

The loss has now seen SEM fall to fourth on the ladder, despite being the league’s most efficient scorers with 95.8 points per game.

Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix Frequently Asked Questions

What time does Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix start?

Tip-off between Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix is at 7:30 PM AEDT, Wednesday, December 31

What channel is Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix on?

You can watch Cairns Taipans vs South East Melbourne Phoenix on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel.

Verdict

Cairns Taipans v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Owen Foxwell will have 4+ assists as the Phoenix cover the 8.5 points as the favourites and score over 95.5 points.

S.E Melbourne -8.5

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