Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans NBL26 Round 13 Tips - Sydney tipped to beat up on Taipans

Ryan Tucker

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Last updated: Sat 20 Dec 2025 09:09

Ryan Tucker 20 Dec 2025

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Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans expert predictions for Sunday’s Round 13 NBL matchup
Tip-off is at 4:30 PM AEDT at Qudos Bank Arena
Sydney Kings expected to win against Cairns Taipans.
Kings are on a 3-game winning streak, excelling in both offense and defense.
Kendric Davis is expected to score over 25 points in the match.

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Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans NBL26 Round 13 Tips

Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans NBL25 Round 13 Expert Tips

Cairns will have confidence off the back of their amazing win over the Breakers on Friday, but they now face a more polished Sydney team that will test the defensive effort.

Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans NBL25 Round 13 Expert Tips
Head to Head
Last 5 Match Results
Offensive & Defensive Rankings
Sydney Kings Form & Team News
Cairns Taipans Form & Team News
Sydney Kings vs Cairns Taipans Frequently Asked Questions

Sydney will win and cover the line on Sunday afternoon as they welcome the Cairns Taipans to Qudos Bank Arena. The Kings have a longer turnaround, after they took care of business in the Ignite Cup matchup on Wednesday against the league leading Adelaide 36ers.

In prior years Sydney have had the moniker of flat track bully, beating up on the bad teams and not winning against the good ones. But that is starting to change. They are on a 3 game win streak having beaten Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide, two of them on the road.

Cairns needed a heroic effort from Jack McVeigh to get across the line against the Breakers on Friday. While it was amazing, it isn’t repeatable, especially against the Kings who have the 3rd best defence in the league and restrict perimeter shots to just 31.8%.

Take Sydney to win and cover the large line. Kendric Davis is the 2nd best scorer in the league, take him for 25+ in this one.

Sydney are the number 3 ranked scoring team and the number 4 ranked defence.
Despite an uptick over the past month, Cairns are still the 9th ranked scoring team in the NBL.
Kendric Davis had 21 pts in the match vs Cairns earlier this season despite the team scoring just 74 pts.
Davis is the 2nd best scorer in the league this season, averaging 23.5 pts per game.

Head to Head

Last 5 Match Results

Date	Home Team	Score	Line	Total Points
28/09/2025	SYD	CAI 77-74	CAI +9.0	U 183.5
12/01/2025	SYD	SYD 91-87	CAI +9.5	U 185.0
29/11/2024	CAI	SYD 81-75	CAI +7.0	U 171.0
13/10/2024	SYD	SYD 99-73	SYD -7.5	U 180.0
29/12/2023	SYD	SYD 101-82	SYD -5.0	U 190.5

Offensive & Defensive Rankings

SYD Off	Rank	Stat	Rank	CNS Def
92.4	4	PPG	8	94.4
42.2	5	RPG	9	44.1
44.8%	5	FG%	8	45.5%
33.1%	4	3P%	1	29.0%
9	1	TOV	10	7.8

SYD Def	Rank	Stat	Rank	CNS Off
86.4	3	PPG	10	82.3
43.6	8	RPG	9	39.1
44.1%	3	FG%	9	43.4%
31.8%	5	3P%	3	33.2%
13.6	3	TOV	8	12.9

Sydney Kings Form & Team News

Sydney kicked off Round 13 in fine form with a 97-93 OT victory over the league leading Adelaide 36ers at AIS arena.

Sydney were able to leverage their ability close to the rim, shooting at 55.4% from 2pt range which ultimately was decisive. The Kings were also tidy with the ball, committing just 8 turnovers in the match but forcing 14 from their opponent.

Sydney rank 4th in scoring on the season and 3rd in opponent points per game. They are also the team producing the fewest turnovers of anyone in the league.

Cairns Taipans Form & Team News

The Taipans and Jack McVeigh produced an amazing performance at home on Friday night against the New Zealand Breakers, winning 99-95 to take their second victory in 3 games.

The win also snapped a 7 game losing streak against the Breakers with Jack McVeigh finishing on 47 pts, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. McVeigh went 16-21 from the floor including 6-8 from distance while nailing 9-9 from the charity stripe. Marcus Lee added 15 off the bench while Sam Waardenburg had a double double as his minutes start to increase.

Cairns lifted themselves off the bottom of the ladder with the win and over the last 3 games have elevated themselves to 7th in scoring which is important considering they are the worst team in the league over the course of the season.