Preview: NBL25 R14 Away v Tasmania JackJumpers

The Brisbane Bullets are looking forward to the chance to immediately shake off Friday night's loss at home to the Illawarra Hawks by taking on the defending champion Tasmania JackJumpers on the road on Sunday.

The hectic schedule for the Bullets continues with them fresh off beating the Adelaide 36ers on the road on Christmas Eve and then returning to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday night with a loss to the league-leading Hawks.

Now it's straight on the plane on Saturday to head to Hobart to take on the JackJumpers on Sunday afternoon at MyState Bank Arena with the Bullets attempting to snap the seven-match winning run of Tasmania.

Brisbane comes into the contest on Sunday having just slipped outside of the top six following Friday's loss at home to the Hawks with a 9-9 record, but a win again on Sunday and there's a good chance they will finish 2024 holding a top six position.

The Bullets were without James Batemon, Deng Adel and Rocco Zikarsky in that Friday night game against Illawarra as well which didn’t help the cause of keeping up with the high-scoring and fast paced Hawks.

However, there is a chance that Adel returns from his hand injury on Sunday in Tasmania to play his first game November 17 against the Perth Wildcats while the new replacement player for Batemon isn’t far away.

While Friday night ended up being an 18-point loss for Brisbane against Illawarra, it was a game the Bullets led by 10 points in the second quarter and still by six halfway through the fourth.

That means there were still plenty of positives to take but the areas to improve for Sunday will be tidying up the 22 turnovers from which the Hawks scored 32 points, and doing a better job of sharing and moving the ball on offence to have more than nine assists.

The Bullets have already played Tasmania twice so far this season with the first meeting at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre with the JackJumpers narrowly prevailing 87-79.

It was another tight affair in the most recent meeting back on November 15 also at MyState Bank Arena where the Bullets were in a winning position before the JackJumpers finished strongly to win 95-92.

Looking back on the previous two meetings this season and Schueller knows the JackJumpers had their chances, but ultimately what he's looking forward to on Sunday is just the chance to quickly hit back from Friday's loss.

"I feel like the two times we've played them this year they were playing well and obviously they got those ones over us, but every time we play Tassie it's a tight, hard fought battle," Schueller said.

"We're looking forward to that but right now it's about recovery for us and the quick turnaround is absolutely a blessing for us. We want to just get back out there, clap back and get back on track. We're looking forward to the battle down there."

Prather continued his stunning run of form for the Bullets on Friday night with another 28 points to now be averaging 29.3 points a game over the past eight matches.

However, all he cares about is helping the Bullets win games and that's the focus as he and his teammates head to Hobart to take on the JackJumpers on Sunday.

"I definitely believe it's good we play again so quickly," Prather said.

"We're a team who pretty much thrives in that area so we'll be mad about this for the next couple of hours, and then just move onto the next game. I definitely think we're a team that likes to bounce back and get a clap back win.

"Any time a team gets one on you, you always want to get one back and I think the guys are excited about the opportunity to go down there and get another win."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Tasmania JackJumpers

Tip off: 1:30pm (AEST), Sunday 29 December, 2024

Where: MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo