Bullets take plenty of positives out of narrow pre-season defeat

In front of an energetic Gold Coast crowd the Brisbane Bullets and Melbourne United played out an entertaining pre-season game where United eventually finished on top 96-92.

On the first night of the NBL Blitz, those who attended were able to experience all the excitement the NBL has to offer with many highlights and lead changes throughout the game.

Melbourne got out to a fast start, but the Bullets caught fire towards the back end of the first quarter. Josh Bannan and Aron Baynes dominated the boards and Isaac White nailed a couple of triples to extend the Bullets lead to 30-21 at the first break.

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Brisbane continued their form into the second quarter with Chris Smith and Mitch Norton making their mark on the game.

The Bullets were still leading 47-42 by half-time before the third quarter became quite the spectacle including 17-year-old Next Star Rocco Zikarsky delivering a huge block and a couple of dunks.

Former NBA player and Melbourne United guard Matthew Dellavedova knocked down a couple of three’s to energise his team, with the Bullets leading by four heading into the final quarter.

In the final quarter Melbourne took the lead early, but Chris Smith knocked down three triples late in the game to draw the scores back within two. Brisbane had the opportunity to draw the scores level but were unable to capitalise.

Despite the end result, there were a lot of positive take aways for Brisbane.

Chris Smith again shot impressively making 5/7 from beyond the three-point line for 21 points and five rebounds with Isaac White finishing with 13 points, and Mitch Norton 10 points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds.

Brisbane’s big men also stole the show on multiple occasions, with Rocco Zikarsky delivering 11 points, two rebounds and a block in 18 minutes while Aron Baynes had four points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL BLITZ GAME 1

MELBOURNE UNITED 96 (Dellavedova 28, Ili 15, Clark 13)
BRISBANE BULLETS 92 (Smith 23, White 13, Sobey 13) 

BOX SCORE