Preview: NBL26 R18 Away v Melbourne United

The Brisbane Bullets played the first game of HoopsFest and now will play the first game as the NBL resumes on Wednesday against Melbourne United in Bendigo with the chance to stay in the hunt for the Ignite Cup by Disney+.

Last time the Bullets played Melbourne it was at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre back on December 27 and it was a strong showing at home only going down by the five points.

This time around they will be attempting to complete the deal with a seventh victory of the NBL season with the game getting underway at 4:30pm Queensland with the earlier start time to make way for the Ignite Cup presented by Disney+ double-header on Wednesday.

The Bullets are still in the running to play in the Ignite Cup Final that will be on the Gold Coast on February 22 as well with two games in the in-season tournament remaining.

While the Bullets have just eight points from two games so far in the Ignite Cup, they have two matches remaining starting Wednesday against Melbourne and then a week later also on the Gold Coast against the Adelaide 36ers.

That means there are 14 points available to the Bullets with three awarded for winning the game, and then one each for outscoring your opponent in each quarter so if Brisbane claim most of those 14 points on offer, they could well make the final.

Meanwhile, Melbourne are out of contention in the race for the final of the Ignite Cup but it's a crucial game in the context of the NBL season for them with them currently in fourth position with a 16-10 record.

Wednesday's game will be the first NBL contest since HoopsFest in Perth last week which saw the Bullets first up against the Sydney Kings at RAC Arena on Thursday night ending up suffering a 15-point defeat.

Melbourne were then in action on Saturday night and played a typically physical close contest with the Tasmania JackJumpers before winning 79-77 to maintain their hold on fourth position in the NBL standings.

Wednesday's game will be the fourth and final meeting between the two teams this season with United winning all three clashes previously with the 95-86, 99-93 and 92-87 victories.

Bullets interim coach Darryl McDonald spoke after last Thursday's loss in Perth to the Kings and with Javon Freeman-Liberty, Sam McDaniel and Tyrell Harrison still sidelined, he'll be looking to lengthen his rotation and give some more opportunities to players deeper on the bench.

"I'm playing like seven guys and I'm going to change that up and am going to start playing some more of our bench guys now that we have seven games left," McDonald said.

"We're definitely not going to make the playoffs so I need to give those guys an opportunity and I'm giving to give them all a chance to play.

"It might give the chance for guys like Ducas and Norto to have a little bit of a rest and someone like Terry played 35 minutes, Maldonado played 30-something minutes and there's an opportunity to give those guys a chance to show what they can do.

"It's also about jobs, the guys are trying to stay in the league so it's a chance to show the people what you can do."

Power forward Terry Taylor is now 11 games into his first stint in the NBL at the Bullets and has been finding his groove averaging 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds over the past three matches.

He is looking forward to the chance to take on Melbourne on Wednesday in Bendigo and to come away with the victory ahead of returning home to host the Illawarra Hawks on Australia Day back at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

"That's the thing, we've been in a lot of games, we just come out flat in the third quarter for whatever reason with a lot of turnovers and empty offensive positions, and not communicating well enough," Taylor said.

"But if we can just clean up some stuff, we'll be fine, and we shouldn’t have no problem with coming out with a W against Melbourne United if we just take care of our end of the bargain.

"We always seem to be shooting ourselves in the foot at the moment, but for the most part I think if we can take better care of that we'll be fine and it's important to tell the guys to go out and have fun.

"You want everyone to keep shooting their shots, to keep doing the right things and communicating, and if we do that then this thing will play out how it's supposed to, but you have to emphasis having fun and playing hard.

"Then you'll let the chips fall where they fall if you do that."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Melbourne United

Tip off: 4:30pm (AEST), Wednesday 21 January, 2026

Where: Red Energy Arena, Bendigo

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