Preview: NBL26 R12 Away v Illawarra Hawks

The Brisbane Bullets play a second straight game away from home after the FIBA break against the Illawarra Hawks this Thursday night with Javon Freeman-Liberty returning ahead of a home match on Sunday.

The Bullets were back in action out of the FIBA window last Friday night in Adelaide after Taine Murray, Tyrell Harrison and Tohi Smith-Milner played with the Tall Blacks, and Alex Ducas for the Boomers in the pair of World Cup qualifiers.

Sam McDaniel made his return from an ankle injury as well for the Bullets against the 36ers with new import forward Terry Taylor also making his debut, and now Freeman-Liberty will be back in the line-up this Thursday night.

The Bullets will be taking on the Hawks at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night with the game getting underway at 6:30pm Queensland time.

It's the start of a double-header weekend for the Bullets ahead of a return home on Sunday afternoon to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre to play host to the Perth Wildcats.

It's also a big week on the milestone front for two of the Bullets most important players with McDaniel reaching 150 NBL games on Thursday night as will Harrison with all of his having been played at Brisbane.

The Bullets come into Thursday night's clash against the Hawks after losing in Adelaide last Friday night by 25 points, but the positive was that McDaniel successfully returned and Taylor got through his NBL debut.

They should both be better for the run now for the game against the Hawks while Freeman-Liberty will also be back to play his first match since Round 2 and having shown exciting signs averaging 19.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his first two NBL appearances.

The Bullets come into the game sitting on a 5-11 record but four of those five victories have come on the road as they take on a Hawks team who are 5-10.

While Brisbane are coming off that loss in Adelaide, Illawarra are also fresh off losing at home to the bottom placed Cairns Taipans by 17 points on Saturday with the Snakes missing Jack McVeigh, Sam Waardenburg and Reyne Smith.

That leaves both teams in similar positions with near identical records, and coming off disappointing losses as they look to Thursday night's match up in Wollongong as a chance to try and breathe some momentum back into their seasons.

It's the second time the two teams have met so far this season with the first meeting also in the 'Gong back on October 11 where the Hawks dominated to come away 27-point victors in what was their first win of the season as defending champions.

One Bullets player now finding his groove in the NBL is rookie power forward Jacob Holt and he's looking at Thursday's game as a chance for Brisbane to begin building some momentum.

"I think behind the scenes we keep working and we're getting better every day, and we're not in the situation we want to be in, but I would ride with these guys like no one else," Holt told SENQ Breakfast.

"This Illawarra game is a good game for us to try and get back on the right foot, to start with another win and to keep going."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Illawarra Hawks

Tip off: 6:30pm (AEST), Thursday 11 December, 2025

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre

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