Preview: NBL24 Round 15 v Illawarra Hawks at Nissan Arena

They could well be the two form teams of the NBL and the Brisbane Bullets play host to the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday at Nissan Arena as both attempt to further secure a top six position.

Both the Bullets and Hawks bring winning streaks into the Sunday afternoon match up at Nissan Arena, and having already beaten the Tasmania JackJumpers in Round 15 of NBL24.

Brisbane beat the JackJumpers back on Wednesday night at Nissan Arena in a tremendous performance even without captain Nathan Sobey, while Illawarra defeated Tasmania in Hobart in a cracking double overtime contest on Friday night.

The win on Wednesday for the Bullets came with a last second shot from Chris Smith to break the deadlock to give Brisbane the 80-77 victory.

That meant that the Bullets have now won three games in-a-row this season on the back of wins against the South East Melbourne Phoenix and Sydney Kings.

There was plenty to like in the performance from Brisbane especially considering Sobey had to miss the game with a foot injury suffered in Sydney three days earlier.

Not only did Smith hit the game winning shot but he top-scored with 19 points while Tyrell Harrison had 13 points and seven rebounds, Sam McDaniel 12 points and seven boards, Josh Bannan 12 points and seven rebounds, and Shannon Scott dished out five assists.

Just two nights after Brisbane won that game against Tasmania, the Hawks took on the JackJumpers in Hobart on Friday and the two teams would play out a remarkable double overtime contest.

The Hawks ended up prevailing after the contest lasted 50 minutes with front court duo Gary Clark and Sam Froling impressive combining for 48 points and 23 rebounds.

Justin Robinson also had 21 points for Illawarra, Tyler Harvey 19 and Hyunjung Lee 12 to go with 10 rebounds as they kept their winning form going.

The two teams now come into Sunday's match up in impressive form with the Bullets having won the three straight to improve to a 10-11 record to sit in sixth position, and the Hawks on a four-game winning run at 9-9 in fourth spot.

There's the chance for the winner of Sunday's game to shoot further up the NBL standings to end Round 15 raising the stakes significantly of their second meeting of the season.

Last time the two teams met was back on December 3 at Nissan Arena and that was also a thrilling contest with Brisbane winning 78-77.

On that occasion, Brisbane held firm for the one-point win with a strong defensive play at the end that saw Harrison wall up against Clark on the final possession the final determining factor in the one-point win.

Hostplus Brisbane Bullets Head Coach Justin Schueller is happy with the way things are now starting to click for his team with the three straight wins, but he knows they can't get too happy and have to keep doing the right things to get another victory on Sunday.

"We use habits as our checkpoint daily and we really believe in when we're accountable to those things that things will continue to go our way," Schueller said.

"We've had a couple of losing streaks this year where we've been tested with that and we've come out the other side.

"So right now we're getting some fruits and rewards for it but we're also really big on staying in the moment. That's the key for us right now.

"This is a great win for our club and it's another series win for us which is a big tick, but we don’t want to get too high.

"We'll enjoy the win and then get straight to work on Illawarra and what I love about our group is that we're learning what winning looks like, and those habits that we need to have."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Illawarra Hawks

Tip off: 1:00pm (AEST), Sunday 14 January, 2024

Where: Nissan Arena

Tickets: Available Here

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo

Listen: SEN Q Radio