Forgettable Gold Coast night for Bullets

It was a tough night for the Brisbane Bullets for the Ignite Cup by Disney+ on Wednesday at the Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre with the New Zealand Breakers catching fire with fingers now crossed for Casey Prather.

Prather continued his outstanding form this season as a genuine MVP candidate where despite the Bullets trailing the Breakers all evening, he had 26 points to his name to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

However, when he went up for a layup early in the fourth quarter he landed awkwardly on his knee and given the past troubles prior to arriving in Brisbane he's had with the knee, he was immediately emotional and now prayers are up to hope for some promising news in the coming days.

As for the game, the Breakers ended up scoring the 113-84 Ignite Cup victory on the back of a 41-point fourth quarter which saw them leading 68-36 at half-time on the way to the eventual 29-point victory.

It wasn’t the night on the Gold Coast the Bullets were hoping for with them finishing up shooting 48 per cent from the floor with 6/24 from behind the three-point line while having just the eight offensive rebounds but 17 turnovers.

Along with what Prather delivered before his injury, captain Mitch Norton battled hard even though foul trouble limited him to under 14 minutes, but the Bullets were -2 in his time where he had six points and two assists.

Second-gamer Jacob Holt also had some encouraging moments in his 15 minutes for five points and two rebounds.

Dakota Mathias finished with 12 points as well with Alex Ducas contributing 11 points, five assists and three steals, Tyrell Harrison 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tristan Devers seven points and four boards.

New Zealand shot 57 per cent for the game with 12/25 from downtown with Sam Mennenga ending up with 25 points and six rebounds, Izaiah Brockington 19 points on 8/11 shooting, Parker Jackson-Cartwright 15 points and seven assists, and Karim Lopez 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Tyrell Harrison did score early for the Bullets but the Breakers did get the better of the start to be leading 11-4 before three balls steadied Brisbane in front of the Gold Coast crowd from Casey Prather and Tristan Devers.

Jacob Holt also came on to make his mark and Dakota Mathias completed a three-point play but by quarter-time it was New Zealand leading 27-18.

The second quarter then proved disastrous for the Bullets and just about perfect for the Breakers with them scoring 41 points, only missing three shots along the way and forcing Brisbane into six more turnovers to go into the half-time break leading 48-36.

Casey Prather was a shining light for the Bullets with 16 points by half-time.

Alex Ducas and Mathias made three-pointers early in the second half but the Breakers finished the quarter on a 10-2 run to see their lead grow to 35 by three quarter-time.

The Bullets did show some fight to start the fourth quarter including scoring eight straight points, and then Prather scored a layup off a turnover but then he landed awkwardly on his knee ending his night early.

The positive was Brisbane ended up winning the fourth quarter with the 27 points to 21 to take a point towards the Ignite Cup standings.

The Bullets will now hit the road again to back up on Saturday and they have been good away from South East Queensland with four of seven wins so far in NBL26 ahead of taking on the league-leading Melbourne United.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Prather 26, Mathias 12, Harrison 11, Ducas 11)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 113 (Mennenga 25, Brockington 19, Jackson-Cartwright 15)

BOX SCORE