Preview: NBL25 R16 Away v SE Melbourne Phoenix

The Brisbane Bullets did well to win at home on Wednesday night in the absence of three key players and now look for a third win of NBL25 against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday night.

The Bullets snapped a three-game losing run at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night with the 83-74 victory against the New Zealand Breakers that kept them knocking right on the door of a spot in the top six.

A win now on Saturday night at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium has the chance to move the Bullets into a spot inside that top six with seven matches of the NBL season remaining including the next two at home to the Perth Wildcats and Cairns Taipans.

The Bullets won that game on Wednesday in the absence of Josh Adams, Keandre Cook and Rocco Zikarsky with the two imports in a race against time to be fit to play against the Phoenix, but Zikarsky is confirmed to return after missing the past four matches.

Brisbane and South East Melbourne are two teams locked in a battle over a spot in the top six emphasised by the fact that the Phoenix come into Saturday's game with an 11-10 record while the Bullets are 10-11.

The two teams have already met twice so far this season with the Bullets winning both encounters by two points in a thriller in Melbourne on October 12 and then at home by eight points in a high-scoring battle on December 12.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller knows that the Phoenix are playing better basketball now than in either of those previous meetings having won six of the last eight.

"It's one of those games where we know what our clear advantages are and we'll look at those again, but they are playing some great basketball," Schueller said.

"They've got a belief in what they're doing so it's two teams that are right there in the playoff picture and we can't wait to get down there and get into it."

Following Wednesday's win, the Bullets got to Victoria on Thursday to spend some time together as a group before using Friday to get themselves ready for the Saturday night match up, and Schueller is looking forward to his group continuing to take steps forward.

"We keep talking about just owning our day and we have a travel day to go to Melbourne early because we're out in Traralgon, and that's a day I want the boys to just enjoy each other's company and clear their minds," Schueller said.

"Then we'll get to work again on Friday and for us the constant growth areas is if we can get our depth and right now there's question marks around who is genuinely available for that next game.

"Then it's about how we can keep taking steps forward in where we want to go. We know we have eight games left and five wins needed, and we're in control of our world. If we look too far ahead we'll miss that target, but if we own the day we know we'll be in good shape."

Schueller is looking forward to having an extra big body available against the Phoenix to take on Jordan Hunter and Matt Hurt with Zikarsky to return while it's a wait and see approach on the availability of Cook and Adams.

"One we definitely know for sure right now is that he (Zikarsky) had to have an X amount of time off and that's now in the past and we're excited to bring him back in," Schueller said.

"JA and Keandre it's too early to say after they just didn’t get up for this one, and we had to suit JA to make sure we qualified him. But as for where they're at, we'll know more once we get to Melbourne.

"One of the things we did this year was bring guys in that we genuinely knew all those pieces fitted together so the frustration is that we've never had all those pieces in at the same time.

"We're still excited about what we can go and do this year, but at the same time we need to get guys fully fit and healthy, and we'll just keep forging forward."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs SE Melbourne Phoenix

Tip off: 7:00pm (AEST), Saturday 11 January, 2025

Where: Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo