Everyone is awash with the festive mood vibes and New Year’s resolutions at these times! Nevertheless, NBL24 will not be taking a break, and they have so much lined up for basketball enthusiasts in Australia and beyond. 

The NBL 2023-23 Round 12 fixtures will, for instance, kick off on Friday 22nd December with a match between New Zealand Breakers and Sydney Kings at the Spark Arena, Auckland, starting at 5:30 PM AEDT. 

Thereafter, a series of other eight matchups will proceed. Tasmania JackJumpers is scheduled to play S.E Melbourne Phoenix, while Sydney Kings will be inviting Illawarra Hawks to their ground on Christmas day. 

We feel these fixtures will provide a compelling festive feel. If you don’t have a solid family get-together event to attend, or a getaway plan during this season, we cordially invite you to various arenas throughout this period as teams are prepared to afford you memorable clashes. 

Well, even if you won’t make it to the stands, you can follow every update of the NBL24 from the best Australian NBL website with real-time updates across nerve-wracking meet-ups in NBL, WNBL, and a whole range of Australian basketballing news. Of course, we are a team of experts and we enjoy every bit of what we do, bringing you the latest updates from the NBL basketball stands!

Now that we anticipate epic clashes in the festive NBL24 Round 12 matches, allow us to backpedal a little, and bring you a sneak peek coverage of the sumptuous moments that defined the just concluded NBL24 Round 11 matches, including the league leaders, hottest news from the stands, coach reactions, the amazing Next-Star performances, and movements if any in the league standings. 

NBL24 Round 11 General Overview

Overall, the round featured relatively fewer games with 7 fixtures between Thursday, December 14 to Sunday, December 17. The last fixture on Sunday night pitting Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans ended in a dramatic, yet slim victory with Taipans lucky to beat the hosts 102-101. 

The edgy ending of the game and round still leaves Melbourne as the league leaders while Sydney Kings closely trail them. Adelaide and New Zealand Breakers, sadly, are bottom of the league standings, but their coaches are hopeful things will change for the better, especially given that in Round 12, there will be more games (9 fixtures).

The NZL Breaker, for example, has two games; the round’s opener against Sydney Kings starting at 5:30 PM AEDT, Dec 22, and the match between Brisbane Bullets on Dec 27. If they manage two wins out of two, they could be out of the danger zone. 

Exciting News & Updates: The NBL24 Next Stars Continue Rising To The Occasion In Round 11 Concludes

As the truthful source of Australia basketball sporting news, we go beyond the comfort of duty to bring you the clearest picture of the on-field happenings that greatly impact NBL24 fixtures. We endeavour to bring the latest headline news, including star-rated performances, memorable dunks and incredible marquee skills that leave pundits on the edge of their seats.

In the section below, we look into the amazing Next Star talents that are continuing to echo the notion about Australia’s NBL rise as the premier and fertile ground for developing young talents to full-scale, and globally-renowned athletes.

Rocco Zikarsky

Brisbane Bullets Rocco Zikarsky during the round 11 NBL match against Cairns Taipans at Nissan Arena, on December 17, 2023, in Brisbane.

Rocco Zikarsy played only seven minutes in the standings-defining game for Brisbane against Cairns Taipans. Although they lost narrowly (101-102), his impact after coming onto the pitch was instantly felt as he influenced major comebacks against Cairns. 

His remarkable block led to a late twist in the game. Bullets came from a deep hole of 22 points and they were on their way to defeating Cairns prior to Mitch Norton’s buzzer-beating 3 came off in the final split seconds to completely deflate the opponent’s hopes. 

The Brisbane Bullets star has so far managed a career-high 4 blocks through the 3 quarters. 

Mantas Rubstavicius 

Mantas Rubstavicius of the Breakers against Reuben Te Rangi of the Phoenix in a past NBL game at John Cain Arena, on December 02, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia.

Rubstavicious conspicuously starred in New Zealand’s debilitating win over Cairns Taipans over the weekend (111-82). He seems to be reinvigorating the NZL up-charge in the league standings. 

He set a new season-high with 21 points and 8 rebounds in his first-ever start of the NBL24 season. 

The sharply outstanding wing was locked in from a 3-point range and then linked up with 2 of his 3-point attempts and continued to hit all 9 of his free throws. He accumulated a personal best that was only surpassed by the experienced teammate, Antony Lamb. 

Ariel Hukporti 

Ariel Hukporti of Melbourne United dunks during the round 11 NBL match against Adelaide 36ers at John Cain Arena, on December 16, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia.

From the game that Hukporti has so far played in the NBL24, it is now outright that this next star player is on his way to greater career heights. 

He has convinced Melbourne United Head Coach Dean Vickerman that he deserves a slot on the team’s regular roster. Consequently, the coach paired him alongside his teammate center Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, a lethal pair-up that produced desired moves, marksmanship and throws as envisaged in the coaching preparedness before the game. 

The good news to the Melbourne supporters is that Hukporti was at his inspirational best. He helped his team thrash S.E Melbourne Phoenix with a 106-78 scoreline. His stats during this fixture included 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks from the bench without missing a single shot. 

Besides, he added 5 points and an unbelievable 5 blocks within slightly over 12 minutes in the clash against Adelaide, in the second match of the round. 

Alexandre Sarr

Perth Wildcats player Alexandre Sarr blocks Milton Doyle of the JackJumpers during the round 11 NBL clash at RAC Arena, on December 15, 2023, in Perth, Australia.

Alexandra Sarr continued his next-star form in the NBL round 11 fixtures for Perth Wildcats. His efforts were monumental in his team’s win over Tasmania as the Perths slid back to winning ways after last week’s unexpected but disgraceful loss to Illawarra Hawks. 

With Perth’s head coach John Rillie looking to test the optimal potential of every player, Sarr’s impact could not be underestimated as he was the only player to make it over 10 minutes of court time. 

To his coach’s expectation, he manages 7 points, 2 boards and 2 blocks.