NBL Blitz Tips Off Now

Friday, September 16, 2022

NBL Blitz tips off tonight at 7:30pm ACST.

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

The countdown to NBL23 has well and truly been on since the Sydney Kings held the championship trophy aloft in May, and tonight the league is finally back. The Hungry Jack's NBL Blitz tips off tonight at 7:30pm ACST (8pm AEST).

>> SEM Phoenix v Adelaide 36ers - Live scores & stats

A bona fide festival of basketball will take place in Darwin, with all games broadcast live and free on Kayo Freebies. Those outside of Australia and New Zealand who want to get in on the action can watch the games live from the NBL’s YouTube channel.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And it turned into a Darwin Blitz ???<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> Blitz tips off in the Top End TONIGHT with the <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEMelbPhoenix</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> getting us started at 8pm AEST<br><br>Catch the action LIVE + FREE on <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> freebies and preview the tournament at <a href="https://t.co/2PnLGRnmVj">https://t.co/2PnLGRnmVj</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/WRm6x5C2hw">pic.twitter.com/WRm6x5C2hw</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1570580652369772544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

South East Melbourne and the Adelaide 36ers have the honour of kicking off the competition and both teams have been incredibly active in the off-season.

The Phoenix will be without stars Mitch Creek and Ryan Broekhoff, so which young gun will step up in their absence?

>> SEM Phoenix v Adelaide 36ers - Live scores & stats

Robert Franks will make his first appearance for the Adelaide side, having missed two pre-season games, while the likes of Antonius Cleveland and Mitch McCarron will provide plenty of starpower too.

Saturday’s double-header action kicks off with a Grand Final rematch between the Sydney Kings and the Tasmania JackJumpers.

The Kings seem keen to start a rivalry with the JackJumpers, but Tassie head coach Scott Roth is yet to bite back. Can the JJ’s strike first and get revenge over the reigning champs?

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Perth then takes on Cairns at 7:30pm local time (8pm AEST) in what will be a battle of two emerging sides.

Can Keanu Pinder lead the re-tooled Taipans to a strong start to the season, or will Bryce Cotton prove why he was named as the league’s top player in Pete Hooley’s recent rankings?

The action runs through all the way to Friday September 23. If you can’t catch the action live then head to the NBL’s social channels @NBL to follow along from afar.

NBL ball is back, and we can’t wait.