Preview: NBL26 HoopsFest v Sydney Kings

The first two meetings this season haven’t gone to plan for the Brisbane Bullets against the Sydney Kings and they will be looking to turn that around in the first game of HoopsFest in Perth on Thursday night.

For the second season, HoopsFest will be held in Perth and that will see all 10 NBL teams play one match across the four days at RAC Arena and the Bullets will be in action first up against the Kings on Thursday night.

The game will tip-off at 8:30pm Queensland time.

While the first two clashes for the Bullets with the Kings this season haven’t gone to plan, heading out west holds no fears for Brisbane.

On their last visit to Perth to play the Wildcats, they scored the 110-93 victory even in the absence of Javon Freeman-Liberty, Mitch Norton, Jacob Holt and Sam McDaniel.

Not only that, but Alex Ducas is a West Australian local having grown up in Geraldton and that's where he began his basketball journey as well including leading his hometown Buccaneers to an NBL1 West (then SBL) championship as a teenager back in 2019.

Bullets captain Mitch Norton also has fond memories of his time spent in Perth playing with the Wildcats which included him winning two championships and Jack Purchase is another who has played out west previously.

It turned out to be a short turnaround as well for the Bullets from playing in Cairns on Monday night before playing the first game at HoopsFest on Thursday night.

That Sunshine Stoush was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday before ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji interfered with the Bullets ending up losing a tight battle by five points to the Snakes.

The Kings last played on Sunday which saw them score a 97-94 victory at home to Melbourne United to improve to a 15-9 record on the season and to currently sit in third position ahead of the Thursday night match up with the Bullets.

The Bullets and Kings have already played one another twice this season and it hasn’t gone well for Brisbane with Sydney winning the first meeting 116-79 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Next up was a return clash at Qudos Bank Arena with the Kings again bating the Bullets 95-70 with Sydney able to apply significant full-court pressure on Brisbane to force them into X turnovers for the game.

However, the Bullets were without Hunter Maldonado then who has now come on board as a point guard and is fresh off 31 points, six rebounds and five assists against the Taipans on Monday night.

The Kings also had Bul Kuol leading their defensive pressure in that game too and he won't be there on Thursday night having since ruptured his ACL.

While losing the previous two games to the Kings by a combined 62 points certainly hasn’t been ideal, interim coach Darryl McDonald is confident of a significantly better performance on neutral turf in Perth on Thursday to open Hoops Fest.

He's not taking anything for granted, though, even if Sydney are without Kuol, Xavier Cooks and Matthew Dellavedova given the Bullets themselves will still be without Tyrell Harrison, Freeman-Liberty and McDaniel with Lamar Patterson, Dakota Mathias and Casey Prather already ruled out long-term.

"That's the thing, just worrying about the next game and we're preparing for that and I'm not going to say we've got it in our favour, but it might help with them not having some of their key guys," McDonald said.

"Last time they came up the floor on us and we struggled with it and having Maldonado in will help us with that as well, and them not having Cooks, Bul and probably Delly it could be a different story for us.

"We just have to come in and have the same mentality, but we have to put the ball in the hole and they are the best defensive team in the league. It's pretty obvious what they do but we can't get sped up and we have to focus on penetration, kick outs and we've gotta hit shots.

"That's the one thing, I watched them against New Zealand and New Zealand couldn't knock down threes, man, and you've gotta hit shots against Sydney. If you can hit shots against Sydney I think it changes some things."

GAME INFO - HOOPSFEST

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Sydney Kings

Tip off: 8:30pm (AEST), Thursday 15 January, 2026

Where: RAC Arena, Perth

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel, Disney+, Kayo and Fetch