Bullets fall to Taipans in Cairns

Brisbane Bullets fell on the road to the Taipans at Cairns Convention Centre on Thursday night, 73-69.

Both teams needed the win to open Round 13 in the Sunshine Stoush with Cairns having lost four straight and seven of the past eight, and Brisbane two in-a-row and six of the past seven.

It was the Taipans, though, who came out of the blocks firing racing to an 8-0 lead and then still being up 32-19 after the opening quarter.

Cairns lead grew to as much as 16, but the Bullets eventually closed the gap to two points late in the piece. Ultimately a Machado three-point bomb with 25 seconds remaining was the dagger and the Taipans won despite just 41 points after quarter-time.

Nathan Sobey returned but was on minutes restrictions, playing 13 minutes for 11 points while Jason Cadee top-scored with 15 to go with eight dimes.

Lamar Patterson finished with 12 points and Robert Franks 10 for Brisbane, however they were scoreless in the first quarter and had a combined six points to half-time.

Patterson finally scored a couple of buckets while Sobey converted a three-point play and Cadee made his third triple of the half, but still it was Cairns up 51-41 at the break.

Brisbane put up the first five points to get back within five and despite the Taipans only scoring nine points for the quarter, a late three helped them maintain the seven-point edge.

The Bullets weren't going away, and despite a three ball from Mirko Djeric, the visitors kept coming and were just down four with six minutes left.

A Franks three-pointer soon after brought the Bullets back within two and the Taipans were struggling to execute anything offensively. But suddenly with the shot clock expiring, Machado drained a critical three to extend the lead back to five with 25 seconds remaining.

The Snakes were able to hold on from there to snap their four-game losing streak but extend Brisbane's to three.

The Bullets next host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Saturday 26 February at Nissan Arena. Tip-off is at 4:30pm.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

CAIRNS TAIPANS 73 (Machado 17, Kuol 14, McCall 12)

BRISBANE BULLETS 69 (Cadee 15, Patterson 12, Sobey 11) 

BOX SCORE