Preview: NBL25 R18 Away v NZ Breakers

The Brisbane Bullets will attempt to keep their NBL top six hopes alive and hope to have a healthier squad available on the road to the New Zealand Breakers on Friday night.

The Bullets were sitting in a good position in the finals race going back to a win on Christmas Eve against the Adelaide 36ers having won five of the last six games, and to have improved to a 9-8 record.

However, in the eight matches since, Keandre Cook has missed one, Deng Adel five, Rocco Zikarsky seven, Casey Prather one, Tyrell Harrison four, Emmett Naar three and Josh Adams has only been available for five of them as James Batemon's replacement.

That has made for a challenging last four games for the Bullets but with a 10-15 record, they are still a chance to reach the top six if they can get back to winning and that has to start in Christchurch on Friday night against the out of contention Breakers who are 9-16.

It will be the fourth time this season that the two teams have played one another with the extra meeting being the one at HoopsFest in Perth to open up NBL25.

That first match up in Perth saw New Zealand open up a 26-point lead but the Bullets came storming home with a 35-point fourth quarter before the Breakers held on for the thrilling four-point victory.

The next two meetings were both at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre beginning on October 17 where the Bullets earned a measure of revenge with the 84-73 victory with James Batemon starring with 21 points while Josh Bannan added 15, Tyrell Harrison 15 and Casey Prather 15.

Next up and it was another clash at the BEC on January 8 with Brisbane once again beating New Zealand 83-74 with Prather brilliant with 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists with Isaac White adding 13 points, Harrison 13 points and nine rebounds, Mitch Norton 11 points and three assists.

That game for the Bullets was their last win this season with the injury crisis striking since in the losses at the hands of the Phoenix, Wildcats, Taipans and Hawks.

Meanwhile since that loss in Brisbane, the Breakers have been playing some good basketball themselves as they adjust to Tacko Fall in the line-up and having welcomed back Parker Jackson-Cartwright from suspension.

New Zealand has had narrow losses to Illawarra, Melbourne and South East Melbourne while scoring a win at home against the Tasmania so they are back in Christchurch on Friday night feeling good about themselves.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller is looking forward to starting to get some players back for Friday night with Prather's return confirmed and then it's a wait and see approach to see who else might be available.

But he remains confident that his team can still get some wins together over the last four games starting against the Breakers on Friday to stay in the race for a top six position.

"To me as we get bodies back I'm fully confident we'll be able to get this thing going for longer," he said.

"Once we can get it going for longer I feel confident with what we can do. We know we're still alive and what we'll have in the room with some bodies back even though we've been dealt a poor hand lately.

"But now our mindset goes to being able to do something special here, and that's where we want it to be."

For those who played for the Bullets on Monday night, it's all about doing whatever they can to make sure they are as fresh as possible for Friday's game in New Zealand.

That will be a big focus for captain Mitch Norton along with making sure every player takes greater responsibility especially in putting in an improved defensive performance.

"It's another short turnaround so taking care of our bodies is No. 1, then it's about recovery and watching film to find areas we can improve on both offensively, but mainly defensively," Norton said.

"Obviously 121 points is way too many points to give up in a basketball game so for us it's about how you can be better as an individual defender whether it's more scout with the coach or something like that.

"For us it's about staying together and believing. There's four games to go and we win four then we can extend our season which is the No. 1 goal for us right now. Staying together is so important."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs New Zealand Breakers

Tip off: 4:30pm (AEST), Friday 24 January, 2025

Where: Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo