NBL26 R18 - Home vs Illawarra Hawks

The Brisbane Bullets return home and will look to celebrate Australia Day with a win against the defending champion Illawarra Hawks on Monday.

The Brisbane Bullets have had some time to enjoy being back home and now return to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Monday night to take on the defending NBL champion Illawarra Hawks on Australia Day.

The Bullets get to play host to the Hawks on the public holiday Monday with the chance to play back in front of the home fans for the first time since January 4 when there was a lot to like in the competitive showing against the league-leading Adelaide 36ers.

Brisbane will now he hosting an Illawarra team who not only are the reigning NBL champions but also still alive in the race for sixth spot for this season after beating the Tasmania JackJumpers on Saturday night, and with both the JackJumpers and New Zealand Breakers suffering some cruel injury blows.

For the Bullets, Monday will be their first game since a loss in Bendigo to Melbourne United back on Wednesday night. They get to return to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre having enjoyed a few days back home while the Hawks come straight to Brisbane from playing in Hobart on Saturday.

The game will be the third and final meeting between the two teams this season with the first in Wollongong back on October 11 with the Hawks prevailing 116-89 with Tyler Harvey producing 22 points and 10 assists, and JaVale McGee, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Biwali Bayles, Todd Blanchfield, Mason Peatling and Jonah Bolden all scoring in double figures.

The second clash was also in the 'Gong on December 11 with Illawarra again coming away with the 100-85 victory. On that occasion it was a dominant performance from three-time NBA champion McGee on his way to 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Going back to last season when the Hawks went on to win the championship, they were able to claim the sweep over the Bullets as well with Illawarra having now won six straight between the teams with Brisbane's last win coming back on January 14, 2024.

With the Bullets still struggling on the injury front, coach Darryl McDonald knows they don't get much of a chance to work on improving on the practice floor but there are some key areas he wants to see them get better in.

And then in particular in the Australia Day match up, dealing with Illawarra big pair JaVale McGee and Sam Froling is a significant area.

"A big focus is on how we can get better with our defending and we need to continue to build on what we're trying to get done but we have to do it in games because we don't get the opportunity to train," McDonald said.

"We know right now they're (Illawarra) fighting to get in the six and they're going to come in battling and the scary part is that they start guys that are 7'3 and 6'11 when my biggest guy is 6'10 so it's going to be a tough one.

"We're going to be back at home, though, we're going to get our fans coming to the game and we just have to do everything that we can to try and keep it close, and give ourselves a chance at the end."

Having not played from being in Perth last Friday to Saturday in Hobart, things now pick up for the Hawks as they head straight to Brisbane to play on Monday ahead of being in Sydney on Thursday, and then hosting the Wildcats next Saturday.

Illawarra coach Justin Tatum knows they can't afford to look past the Bullets on Monday because losing that game could be a fatal blow to keeping their championship defence alive.

"We don't get overly hyped for this game and we're really excited about all the positive points, but we don't want to forget about what our journey is," Tatum said.

"We have a game on Monday, then Thursday and then next Saturday so it's one game at a time and we don't want to go into Brisbane feeling over confident.

"We want to make sure we just build that momentum."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Illawarra Hawks

Tip off: 4:30pm (AEST), Monday 26 January, 2026

Where: Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Tickets: Available Here

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel, Disney+, Kayo and Fetch

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