NBL26 Round 18

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Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans NBL26 Round 18 Tips - Cats go big against Cairns

Jeremy Darke

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Last updated: Thu 22 Jan 2026 08:59

Jeremy Darke 22 Jan 2026

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Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans expert predictions for Thursday’s Round 18 NBL matchup
Tip-off is at 9:30 PM AEDT at RAC Arena
Key players Doolittle & Lual-Acuil to perform strongly.
Cairns struggling defensively, missing Waardenburg.

Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans NBL26 Round 18 Tips

Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans NBL25 Round 18 Expert Tips

The Wildcats will take their fifth consecutive victory and do it comfortably against the Taipans at home at RAC Arena on Thursday night.

Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans NBL25 Round 18 Expert Tips
Head to Head
Perth Wildcats Form & Team News
Cairns Taipans Form & Team News
Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans Frequently Asked Questions

This matchup is not a good one for the Taipans, facing the Wildcats who get the majority of their points inside, where the absence of Sam Waardenburg is felt the most. Cairns concede the second most points of any team, despite being the best at defending the three ball, which make their weakness in the paint stick out like a sore thumb.

The wildcats are running hot at the moment with four wins and their offence is humming again with the deadly 1-2 punch of Jo Lual-Acuil and Kristian Doolittle doing plenty of damage on offence and defence.

Doolittle is back to his early season form and JLA has had two massive games against the Taipans this season and both are primed for a big one with Waardenburg injured. I like both for 20+ points, just as they did at Hoops Fest against Illawarra and expect the Wildcats to tally over 94.5 team points on the back of the success of their bigs.

Cairns' last 5 losses have been by 15 points or more.
Jo Lual-Acuil has averaged 27 points in his two matches against Cairns this season.
Kristian Doolittle is averaging 20.83 points in his last 6 matches.
Perth are averaging 98.25 points per game in their last 4 matches.

Head to Head

Last 5 Match Results

Date	Home Team	Score	Line	Total Points
22/10/2025	CAI	PER 110-78	PER -2.0	O 172.0
10/10/2025	CAI	PER 80-77	CAI +7.5	U 180.5
25/01/2025	PER	CAI 125-116	CAI +12.5	O 198.0
14/12/2024	CAI	PER 128-92	PER -7.5	O 195.0
10/10/2024	CAI	PER 90-87	PER -1.5	U 183.0

Offensive & Defensive Rankings

PER Off	Rank	Stat	Rank	CNS Def
89.9	6	PPG	9	95.9
43.3	2	RPG	9	42.8
44.9%	5	FG%	8	46.4%
31.5%	8	3P%	1	29.9%
11.6	5	TOV	10	7.6

PER Def	Rank	Stat	Rank	CNS Off
86.8	4	PPG	10	82.9
41.2	4	RPG	10	37.9
43.3%	2	FG%	8	44.6%
33.1%	7	3P%	4	34.1%
10.6	7	TOV	8	13.6

Perth Wildcats Form & Team News

Perth’s Hoops Fest match against last year’s champions was closer than they would have liked but a 92-87 victory still pays the bills and has them comfortably in fifth spot on the ladder and within striking distance to the Phoenix in second spot.

The Wildcats victory on the weekend was their fourth consecutive win and are starting to build momentum into the final stretch of the season. The important part of the victory was everyone contributed with 4 of 5 starters scoring double figures and every playing scoring at least two points while adding stats in other areas.

Kristian Doolittle appears to be back to his old self again after a slight mid-season slump, averaging 20.83 points in his last 6 matches, while collecting 11+ rebounds in his last 2 games.

Cairns Taipans Form & Team News

Hoops Fest was a disappointment for the Taipans who game into the basketball festival in Perth building after two strong wins against Melbourne and Brisbane only to get blown out of the water 104-86 by the Breakers after a second half collapse after leading by 4 at the break.

With no Sam Waardenburg and no real size Sam Mennenga and Karim Lopez dominated the Taipans in the paint. The Cairns guards did all they could to score from outside hitting the three-ball at 48.5% they had nothing down low and having a rare stat of a lower field goal percentage (48.4FG%) than three-point percentage.

It is tough to see Cairns competing with anyone without Waardenburg, who made all the difference for them once he returned from his preseason injury.

Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans Frequently Asked Questions

What time does Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans start?

Tip-off between Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans is at 9:30 PM AEDT, Thursday, January 22

What channel is Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans on?

You can watch Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel.

Verdict

Perth Wildcats v Cairns Taipans

Kristian Doolittle and Jo Lual-Acuil will score 20+ points as the Wildcats tally over 94.5 points and cover the 9.5 points as the favourite at home against Cairns.

Perth -9.5

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