Bullets fall to Phoenix

The Brisbane Bullets showed plenty of fight in the third, but were unable to complete the comeback at home against South East Melbourne Phoenix, going down 73-88.

Lamar Patterson was a standout for the Bullets once again, scoring 26-points – the most of any player on the night. The American also had a team-high five assists, as well as two rebounds.

Centre Tyrell Harrison returned to the starting line-up after missing the clash against Melbourne United on Australia Day with an injury.

Brisbane got off to a solid start with Patterson draining his first points of the night with a corner three. The team were playing a bit of hot potato in the leadup to these initial score, with the ball being rapidly passed around by a number of players.

The Bullets seemed to build off this early score, going on an 8-2 run within the first two minutes, before Phoenix returned the favour with six-straight points of their own.

Tyrell Harrison announced his return to the line-up early on with one of the defensive highlights of the game. After a block and then a steal from the 214cm centre, the hosts went up the other end of the court, with Lamar Patterson stepping up for his second three point make of the game.

Another defensive highlight early in the game was a clever passage of play from guard Tamuri Wigness, who stole the ball from Mitch Creek before scoring his first points of the night. It was a crucial score too, with the layup bringing an end to Phoenix’s 7-0 run.

Before the first quarter was done though, Patterson drained another three-pointer to bring the Bullets to within one. He was perfect from beyond the arc in the first, going 3-3.

After a highly competitive quarter, the Bullets went into the first break down by three-points.

Mitch Creek controlled the game early on and was a clear reason as to why Phoenix took charge of the game. He scored 17-points in the first 12 minutes, going 7-7 from the field.

The Bullets got off to a slow start in the second term though, scoring just four points over the first four and a half minutes of play. Across the same stretch of play, Phoenix scored 14.

Brisbane rallied late in the quarter, going on a 5-0 run of their own. Shortly after, Patterson scored four points inside the final minute to keep Brisbane within touching distance going into the second-half.

The third quarter started with guard Nathan Sobey getting fouled on his way to the basket. After making the shot despite the contact, Sobes wasn’t able to convert the and-one opportunity.

Anthony Drmic stepped up in this period, scoring two three-pointers inside the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

But Lamar Patterson was arguably the standout in this quarter, scoring seven-points in around two minutes of action.

Late in the third quarter, captain Jason Cadee made his first three of the night, then with the next possession, Sobey also stepped up and drained his first three of the night – with these scores making it a six-point game late.

A bucket from ‘LP’ made it a four-point game late in the period, and that’s how the scores remained going into the final quarter.

The Bullets were held to six-points in the final quarter while South East Melbourne scored 17.

With the Bullets having had 15-turnovers in the loss on Saturday night, James Duncan spoke about how this played a part in Brisbane’s results.

“We just haven’t learned the ultimate lessons,” Duncan said.

“There’s just times where our focus drops and we just get loose with it…it’s something that we have to improve on.”

A shining light for the Bullets despite the loss was the 17-minute cameo off the bench for Deng Deng, who was two-points short of a double-double. He had eight points and 11-rebounds in the match.

“My job is just to come off the bench and give energy to the team and do whatever it takes to get the win,” Deng said.

“Like JD said, as a team, we’ve just got to work more on defence and try to be successful in that part.

“It feels good obviously but my job is to stay ready no matter what.

“You just never know (when) your number could get called on. My job is just to stay ready and do whatever I can do help the team.”

Up next for Brisbane is an away trip to the Adelaide 36ers on Thursday. The Bullets will be looking to return to winning ways when they make the trip to South Australia for the first time this season.

NBL22 Round 9

BRISBANE BULLETS 73 (Patterson 26 points, Sobey 9, Drmic 8)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX  88 (Creek 22, Adnam 16, Munford 14)

Next Home Game

After playing Adelaide away, the Bullets will be back at home to face the Cairns Taipans on Saturday, February 5^th. The game tips off at 4:30pm AEST so make sure you grab your tickets HERE!