Preview: NBL25 R16 Home v Perth Wildcats

Last time the Brisbane Bullets were at home they produced a stirring win over the New Zealand Breakers and they will be looking to repeat the dose on Wednesday night against the Perth Wildcats.

Last time the Bullets played host to the Wildcats at Brisbane Entertainment Centre it was a game to remember with the eventual 105-84 victory back in Round 9.

On that day James Batemon made history with a 51-point outburst and while he won't be out there this time around, Casey Prather is in career-best form as he comes up against the team he won two championships with and the Bullets look to take down the high powered Wildcats.

Brisbane recorded a strong 83-74 victory at home last Wednesday night against the Breakers which they managed to do in the absence of Keandre Cook, Rocco Zikarsky and newly signed import Josh Adams.

All three returned for Saturday's game in Traralgon against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but in that encounter Josh Bannan hurt a knee, Deng Adel a groin and Emmett Naar an oblique muscle.

Tyrell Harrison missed that game with delayed concussion symptoms as well for the Bullets stemming fro a knock he took early in the Wednesday night win against the Breakers.

Now for Wednesday night's game back at the BEC against the Wildcats, Bannan has been given the all clear to play but the Bullets will be without Harrison, Naar, Adel, Zikarsky and Kye Savage.

The 'Cats arrive in Brisbane playing their last of seven straight road games and having now strung together three consecutive wins following a 32-point defeat at the hands of the league-leading Illawarra Hawks.

Perth is fresh off beating the Tasmania JackJumpers by 32 points in Hobart on Sunday afternoon having just welcomed back import Kristian Doolittle and with four-time MVP Bryce Cotton putting up another 32 points along with nine assists.

So while the Wildcats arrive in Brisbane feeling good about themselves having gone 5-1 so far in this road run, the Bullets have it all to play for come Wednesday night no matter who is fit and available to pull on the jersey.

Coming into the game and the Bullets sit just outside the top six with a 10-12 record but the JackJumpers are only just above them at 12-11 while the Phoenix aren’t far away either at 12-10.

Since the Bullets returned home from Victoria, they participated in a Fan Day on Sunday, had some time to recharge on Monday and got back to work on Tuesday with Bullets coach Justin Schueller still backing his team to perform no matter who's available.

"Right now it's all about controllables and what we can actually control right now to give ourselves the best chance to put as many bodies up as we can on Wednesday night," Schueller said.

"That's where we sit right now and I know our group will do everything possible to get up for it."

Bullets star Casey Prather is also in outstanding form and he delivered another 21 points and 11 rebounds in Gippsland on Saturday night against the Phoenix in a game Brisbane were in control of for significant periods before the injury toll took over.

Prather is now averaging 26.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game over the last 12 since he had to miss that win over the Wildcats last time they were in Brisbane back on November 17.

He is a three-time NBL championship winner including twice with the Wildcats made the All-NBL First Team back in NBL17, but he has never played better than he is right now.

Despite that, all he's worried about is doing what he can to help the team get a crucial win on Wednesday night in front of their home fans.

"Honestly I just have to look at us, we've been dealing with injuries this whole year and we've always overcome adversity when it's hit us," Prather said.

"We've always persevered and I know that we've got guys who battle and once we get on the court that's all we care about. Hopefully we have enough bodies to actually go out and do some damage, but I'm happy with who we've got."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Perth Wildcats

Tip off: 6:30pm (AEST), Wednesday 15 January, 2025

Where: Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Tickets: Available Here

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo