Bullets snatch thriller after stunning comeback

The Brisbane Bullets came from 24 points down and came up with the game defining plays late to secure the heart stopping 84-83 road win on Thursday night against the New Zealand Breakers.

The Bullets found themselves 24 points down in the second quarter at Auckland's Eventfinda Stadium and were still trailing by 18 at half-time with Sam Mennenga having 25 points to his name for the Breakers.

However, this Brisbane team has great belief and heart, and despite the absence still of Alex Ducas, Sam McDaniel and Mitch Norton, put in a tremendous fight to get back into the contest with 29 points to 15 in the third quarter.

It was then a three-point lead for the Breakers with two minutes to play before the Bullets came up with all the big moments.

That included two huge and tough buckets to Lamar Patterson, and then up the other end, Taine Murray had a huge block on Max Darling, and finally Tyrell Harrison tipped two shot attempts off the rim on the last play for the Bullets to secure the stunning comeback win.

There was plenty to like in the gutsy performance from the Bullets with six players out there for at least 28 minutes, but none of them playing more than 32.

Casey Prather finished with another 23 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks while Patterson came up huge with 20 points and six boards on 10/14 shooting.

Harrison not only had those two huge tips late, but ended up with 16 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks with Murray enjoying his homecoming with 10 points and five rebounds.

Jaylen Adams also had another strong second half and ended up with 14 points, five assists and three rebounds on 4/8 shooting with 2/4 from downtown.

Sam Mennenga finished with 27 points, six rebounds and four assists for New Zealand but 25 of those points came in the opening half.

Tristan Devers had the defensive assignment for a lot of the game on Parker Jackson-Cartwright and helped limit him to 17 points, six rebounds and five assists on 7/23 shooting.

The Bullets were sticking with the Breakers through a lot of the first quarter until the home team scored the last eight points including three balls to Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Rob Baker II to be leading 25-11 at the end of one.

It was then a horror start to the second quarter with the Breakers hitting three quick triples to be leading 36-13 before a steadying Brisbane three ball from Casey Prather.

New Zealand had found their offensive groove, though, and went on to score 32 points for the quarter including 16 of those from Sam Mennenga and by the half-time break the home team was up 57-39.

Brisbane had got into a better offensive flow too with 28 points in the second quarter despite the 18-point deficit and then the Bullets opened the second half strongly with Tyrell Harrison and Casey Prather helping them to an 8-2 run.

That led into another 6-0 run soon after and suddenly it was back to an eight-point ball game before Jaylen Adams hit two huge three-pointers just before three quarter-time to cut the New Zealand lead to just four points.

Brisbane then scored seven of the first nine points of the fourth period to grab the lead when Adams knocked down a pair of free throws.

The lead then continued to exchange hands before the Bullets came up with massive plays late.

There was a huge Taine Murray block on Max Darling before Lamar Patterson took the ball strongly to the basket and made the last two buckets of the game to give Brisbane the one-point edge.

Then on the last possession, Jackson-Cartwright and Izayah Le'afa got off two shots for New Zealand, but both missed and were hit off the rim by Bullets centre Harrison which was enough for Brisbane to secure the one-point win.

The Bullets now have the super quick turnaround for a home game when they host the South East Melbourne Phoenix at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Prather 23, Patterson 20, Harrison 16)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 83 (Mennenga 27, Jackson-Cartwright 17, Brockington 12)

BOX SCORE