Bullets fall to 'Cats to open new year

A hectic schedule and mounting injury toll meant the Brisbane Bullets couldn’t capitalise on a standout second quarter on New Year's Day with the Perth Wildcats dominating from there to win 95-75.

The Bullets were back home at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday to play the first NBL game of the new year and were once again without the yet to be cleared Hunter Maldonado and injured Taine Murray.

Then in the second quarter in-form centre Tyrell Harrison had a nasty collision when chasing down a loose ball with captain Mitch Norton that ended his evening early.

Javon Freeman-Liberty also suffered a suspected hamstring injury late in the game just to further compound matters, but what the Bullets delivered in the second quarter was a sign of what the team is still capable of.

They outscored the Wildcats 28 points to 15 to go into half-time leading 44-40 with Jacob Holt the standout with 13 of those points.

However, the third quarter proved disastrous with the Wildcats scoring the first 21 points and holding the Bullets scoreless for more than five minutes.

Perth ended up outscoring Brisbane 55 points to 31 in the second half to secure the 20-point victory to open the New Year.

Even before the injury to Harrison, Holt was a shining light on the night for the Bullets and he is showing exciting potential as a rookie big man in the NBL more and more every game he plays.

Holt finished with 17 points with seven rebounds and three assists on 7/12 field goal shooting in his 25 minutes of court time.

He would end up the only Bullets player to score in double-digits with Tristan Devers finishing with nine points, two rebounds and two assists, Terry Taylor eight points and three boards, Sam McDaniel seven points and five assists, and Freeman-Liberty seven points and four rebounds.

Captain Mitch Norton shook off his head clash with Harrison and the black eye as a result to play 27:32 for six points and six assists with Tohi Smith-Milner contributing four points, three rebounds and three assists.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats while Elijah Pepper added 14 points, Dylan Windler 12, Ben Henshall 12 and Kristian Doolittle 11.

Tyrell Harrison made a strong start down low for the Bullets scoring the team's first three baskets and they were then leading 10-8 when Jacob Holt knocked down a three-pointer.

However, Perth finished the first term strongly with a 15-6 run the rest of the way on the way to leading 23-16 by the quarter-time break.

The Bullets made a flying start to the second frame with the opening seven points topped off by a three ball from Javon Freeman-Liberty to close the deficit to two.

Holt then knocked down another three-pointer to bring scores level and when he completed a three-point play soon after, the Bullets had hit the front.

They continued that momentum to go into the half-time break leading 44-40 as well on the back of 13 points from Holt and with 28 points to 15 in that second period to have all the momentum.

It was a disastrous start to the second half for the Bullets with the Wildcats scoring the first 21 points of the third quarter to turn a four-point deficit into a 17-point advantage.

It took more than five minutes for Brisbane to score with Holt scoring and things stayed on an even keel the rest of the quarter but Perth went into three quarter-time leading 71-55 thanks to 31 points to 11.

It was another strong start from the 'Cats to the fourth quarter with the first eight points to blow the margin out beyond 20 before the Bullets got a steadying three-pointer from Alex Ducas.

The deficit proved too much to eat into, though, with the Wildcats going on to score the 20-point win after the Bullets led by four at half-time.

The Bullets remain at home to continue this current hectic schedule by taking on the league-leading Adelaide 36ers back at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 75 (Holt 17, Devers 9, Ducas 9)

PERTH WILDCATS 95 (Lual-Acuil Jr 17, Pepper 14, Windler 12, Henshall 12)

BOX SCORE