Preview: NBL24 Round 14 v Sydney Kings at Qudos Bank Arena

The Brisbane Bullets will be looking to end a run of outs against the defending NBL champion Sydney Kings when the two teams clash on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena.

Brisbane has lost on its last 10 visits to Qudos Bank Arena, but the chance presents to end the streak on Sunday and to remain hot on the heels of the teams currently sitting in one of the play-in positions.

The Bullets are fresh off beating the South East Melbourne Phoenix 95-83 last Saturday night at Nissan Arena to improve to an 8-11 record on the season.

That has Brisbane coming into Sunday's game with a chance to further close the gap on teams currently in a play-in position with the Tasmania JackJumpers at 10-9, Sydney 10-9, New Zealand Breakers 8-9 and Illawarra Hawks 8-9.

It makes it a crucial game for both teams as the race for a place in the top six heats up in what is their third meeting of the season.

While the Kings won a high-scoring affair 113-102 at Nissan Arena on October 13 and then won again 104-95 at Qudos Bank Arena on November 12, Hostplus Brisbane Bullets Head Coach Justin Schueller knows his team is close to knocking off the defending champs.

"It's actually really interesting and last time we played there it was a double-header day for them as well so we get to go in with the same rhythm and process," Schueller said.

"That's something that we've been talking about with winning habits when it comes to having consistency with how we approach things.

"For us it's exciting going in there because we know we put ourselves in a winning position last time and to be able to get there and go into that game, it's always a great crowd in a big arena. Guys can really showcase who they are as a talent."

Brisbane will be attempting to beat Sydney for the first time since January 21, 2022 but it's a longer run at Qudos Bank Arena with the Bullets having not won in the venue since December 9, 2017 with the Kings having won 10 consecutive home matches.

The Bullets now have nine games of the NBL24 season to go so every match is taking on extra significance in the battle for trying to secure a play-in spot, but as cliché as it sounds, Schueller knows his team can't afford to look beyond Sunday.

Just trying to rack up one win at a time to try and get into one of those top six positions is the only approach the Bullets can afford to have right now.

"We know we've got nine games left and win the majority of them that we can is the goal," he said.

"If we win all nine then we're going to be in a great spot, if we only win one of them we're going to be in a bad spot. That's more where our focus is on taking it game by game, and I know it's a cliché, but it's really real right now.

"We can't worry about what is going on and what the number may be or not, we just have to control what we can every quarter. We have a great opportunity to go into Sydney where we know we let that one slip last time. We're really looking forward to that opportunity."

While Casey Prather was on the bench and suited up during the win last Saturday night against the Phoenix, Schueller was glad he didn’t have to put him out there.

Now after a full week of practice, Prather will be out there for the Bullets this Sunday against the Kings and will take on an extra important role in the absence of Chris Smith, but it's more about just whatever production he provides for Schueller.

"We were smart with his plan and last week was a bonus to not have to throw him in two days after the flight. We're absolutely planning for 10 to 15 minutes in this one and if he responds well from that, we'll potentially look at it. Our goal is to not use him more than that," he said.

"A big reason why we brought him in is that we know he's going to impact winning in more ways than just on the floor. We've seen that off the floor already and he comes into practice and has a great session where he makes a lot of shots.

"That's a positive for us as well because it's just that extra piece that we can add and we are right there. We know we're a good group and we just need to have full momentum going for the rest of the way, and he's definitely a piece that will impact winning."

One player who has been doing everything he can to keep the Bullets in the race for a play-in spot is captain Nathan Sobey.

Schueller couldn’t have been more impressed with what he's seen firsthand from working with him firsthand for the first time this season.

He's more than happy to continue to put a lot on his shoulders because he knows he always has nothing but winning on his mind.

"He's a huge key for us and he really wants to be a winner in this league," Schueller said.

"He's done some self-reflecting through the journey and he's now putting words into actions. It's been great to see him just be able to take a game on the way he has, and there's going to more opportunity for him to do the same thing again.

"When he leads us that way it's really easy for everyone else to follow. We're asking that of him week in and week out, and what I love is that he's up to the challenge and wanting to do it."

Speaking of Sobey, while he is in a rich vein of personal form averaging 27.8 points over the past four games, it's all about winning and he's confident the Bullets can build on that win over the Phoenix this Sunday in Sydney against the Kings.

"We can control what we can control, and we're just going to continue to work on what's next, and that's Sydney at the moment," Sobey said.

"We'll script everything we need to do to try and come away with the win, and we're pretty confident with what we're doing and what we've been doing to continue building on what we're trying to do at this point in the season."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Sydney Kings

Tip off: 3:00pm (AEST), Sunday 8 January, 2024

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Watch: 10 Peach, ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo Freebies