Preview: NBL24 Round 11 v Cairns Taipans at Nissan Arena

A full strength Brisbane Bullets will have had a full week to plot a bounce back performance this Sunday at home to the Cairns Taipans as they attempt to make it consecutive Sunshine Stoush victories.

The Bullets had lost nine straight games against their Queensland rivals before beating the Snakes by five points in Cairns back on December 1.

It's now back on the home floor at Nissan Arena for Brisbane this Sunday to host Cairns with the chance to start a winning streak in Sunshine Stoush match ups.

The Bullets are also looking to hit back strongly from last Sunday's 35-point defeat at the hands of Melbourne United on the road. The bonus will be the return of rookie power forward Josh Bannan having been given the all clear having overcome a concussion.

Brisbane played the last two games without Bannan who had been averaging 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in the first eight games of his NBL career with the one-point win to the Illawarra Hawks, and then loss to Melbourne last Sunday.

What Bannan's return means is that the Bullets will have a full roster available for just the second time all season.

That last game he played against Cairns was the night Shannon Scott returned from a hamstring injury but then Bannan, Aron Baynes and Mitch Norton all got banged up despite the win.

Baynes and Norton were able to keep playing, but Bannan has missed the past two games and now will be a welcome return to the squad against the Taipans on Sunday at Nissan Arena.

Bullets Hostplus Head Coach Justin Schueller knows the importance of every game right now with his team sitting at a 7-8 record and clinging to a place in the top six, but things are tight and he's looking for a strong response from his team.

"Honestly every game for us right now has a bit of a playoff edge to it because we know we need to hit the ground running and put our foot down a bit," Schueller said.

"We had a good battle up there against them and we know it's going to be physical, probably the most physical game we've played in so far this season.

"But it is on our floor and we're looking forward to that, and the week long prep of actually being able to stay in Nissan Arena this week. That'll be an advantage for us and we'll focus on getting bodies right and we need to learn from this game, but we'll flush it and move forward from it."

Sunday's game at Nissan Arena will be the third meeting between the Bullets and Taipans this season with Cairns winning the first clash in Brisbane on a dramatic night before Brisbane got the first win against the Snakes in 10 attempts back on December 1.

With both teams locked in a battle over a play-in position and with the Bullets having just gone past the halfway mark of the season, Sunday's game has plenty riding on it with the winner to also be in prime position to take out the season series.

Brisbane haven’t played since last Sunday's loss in Melbourne to United but Cairns come into Sunday's match up fresh off a tough 29-point loss at home to the New Zealand Breakers on Friday after a 15-point win in Adelaide last Saturday.

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Cairns Taipans

Tip off: 3:00pm (AEST), Sunday 17 December, 2023

Where: Nissan Arena

Tickets: Available Here

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Listen: SEN Q Radio