Preview: NBL26 R22 Home v Sydney Kings

A challenging season for the Brisbane Bullets comes to a close on Friday night and while they are facing the ultimate test against the on-fire Sydney Kings, a strong showing in front of the home fans is the focus.

The Bullets will play their last game of the 2025/26 NBL season on Friday night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre against the league-leading Kings with the game tipping-off at 6:30 local time.

Coming into the game and the form and situations of the teams couldn’t be more contrasting, but that doesn't mean the Bullets won't be throwing everything at putting in a strong showing especially in front of home fans to bid farewell to this season.

Unfortunately for the Bullets they can't get out of bottom position in the standings no matter the result on Friday night with them holding a 6-26 record and having now lost their past 12 matches.

It's the complete opposite for Sydney who sit in top spot and will stay there for the close of the regular season with a win in Brisbane and the Kings come into the contest with a 23-9 record and now having won 10 straight matches.

Across the 12 straight losses for the Bullets, it has been an average losing margin of 21 points with them struggling to score putting up just 76.1 points a game including six straight now below 80 while conceding 96.5 points in that stretch.

Then in the 10 consecutive wins for the Kings, they have come at a winning margin of an average of 18 points which has risen to 20 over the last five with them having scored over 100 points now in their previous seven matches.

The two teams have met three times already this season with the first back at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on November 1 with the Kings beating the Bullets 116-79.

The next meeting was at Qudos Bank Arena with Sydney winning again 95-70 and then most recently was at HoopsFest in Perth with the Kings once again prevailing 95-80.

It's a big challenge against a Kings team sitting in top spot and needing to win that game to stay there, but Bullets coach Darryl McDonald wants his players to dig deep to put in a strong showing for their home fans one last time.

"It's our last game, it's our last game at home, and the least we can do is come out and play hard, and compete for our fans," McDonald said.

"I made that point last week and I thought we competed against Cairns, but now we're playing against the top seed and they're still fighting to stay where they are.

"With them coming to see us on Friday, it's not going to be no different to what they have been doing and they're probably right now the best team in it and they're playing well, but we just have to come in, get our work in during the week and then try to take a swing at them.

"We might try to junk it up and see what happens, and it's going to be tough, but the motivation is to come out and compete and play hard for your fans."

The Kings now have their destiny in their own hands on Friday when they play the wooden spoon bound Bullets in Brisbane.

A win and the Kings remain in top spot and have home court advantage right through the playoffs but with a loss and they could end up as low as third depending on other results.

Coach Brian Goorjian is sure his players won't even need to be told of the stakes but he's still wary of what McDonald's Bullets might come out with.

"What I haven’t had to say is the importance of any of these games and now after all of this work, we've got a chance to finish on top to have home court all the way throughout the playoffs," Goorjian said.

"The only message from me is to make sure we leave it all out there on the floor and make sure we take advantage of these days leading into it (Friday's game).

"I coached DMac and his love of the game, and the process of him going forward to keep his team competing is a credit to him and it's a really difficult situation to walk into, and it's going to be their last game this season and it's at home.

"I'm expecting him to bring it and have his team ready, and they're already started to play around with their defences and line-ups, so he'll have something up his sleeve for sure."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Sydney Kings

Tip off: 4:30pm (AEST), Friday 20 February, 2026

Where: Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Tickets: Available Here

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