Expressions (type?)null, default(type?)and new Nullable<type>()ultimately come down to the same operation codes:
long? x = (long?)null;
long? y = default(long?);
long? z = new Nullable<long>();
turns into:
IL_0001: ldloca.s x
IL_0003: initobj valuetype [mscorlib]System.Nullable`1<int64>
IL_0009: ldloca.s y
IL_000b: initobj valuetype [mscorlib]System.Nullable`1<int64>
IL_0011: ldloca.s z
IL_0013: initobj valuetype [mscorlib]System.Nullable`1<int64>
, NULL, , . , , . , , . .