Preview: NBL26 R9 'Home' v NZ Breakers

The Brisbane Bullets are fresh off another terrific road win as they look to stay undefeated in the Ignite Cup by Disney+ on Wednesday when they take on the New Zealand Breakers at the Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre.

NBL basketball will return to the Gold Coast on Wednesday night when the Bullets take a home game there to play host to the Breakers as part of the Ignite Cup in-season tournament.

The Bullets are playing their second game in the Ignite Cup which encompasses all the Wednesday games this season with the teams not only playing a regular NBL season game, but also playing for the right to reach the Championship Game also on the Gold Coast on February 22.

The game will also be the third time already that the teams have met this NBL season with the Bullets winning the first two encounters firstly 104-95 in Auckland to open NBL26 and then just three weeks ago on the North Shore coming from 24 points down for the 84-83 victory.

In that last win, Casey Prather had another 23 points and 12 rebounds for Brisbane, Tyrell Harrison 16 points and 11 boards, Jaylen Adams 14 points and five assists, and Kiwi local Taine Murray 10 points and five rebounds.

The Bullets will now look to make it three from three for this season so far against the Breakers and also claim another victory in the Ignite Cup as the battle heats up for that Championship Game in February, and the prizemoney on offer for the winning team.

Brisbane head into the game on Wednesday night fresh off beating the Tasmania JackJumpers in Hobart on Saturday 83-81 in another strong showing where Prather (28 points, eight rebounds) and Harrison (21 points, nine rebounds, three assists) were both outstanding.

They had plenty of help to including the returns of captain Mitch Norton and rookie big man Jacob Holt to the line-up meaning the Bullets are getting closer to full strength with just Tohi Smith-Milner and Sam McDaniel still sidelined.

The Bullets are preparing to take on a Breakers team who last played on Sunday afternoon where they lost on the road to the Sydney Kings just three days after a four-point defeat in Christchurch to the Adelaide 36ers.

The Bullets come into the Wednesday clash with a 5-7 record to be knocking on the door of a top six position while the Breakers are 3-9 making it a crucial match up for both teams as the midway point of NBL26 nears.

Norton was his inspirational self back on Saturday in his return game for the Bullets and he can't wait to get to play on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.

"We're looking forward to getting to the Gold Coast and it's really good to broaden our horizons, and getting different type of fans to the game," Norton said.

"We want to be able to increase our presence in South East Queensland so we're really excited about that one."

Bullets coach Stu Lash is also looking forward to the chance to bring an NBL game back to the Gold Coast, but he knows it's a big encounter for his team too on a number of fronts regardless of where it's being played.

"I've never heard of anybody having a bad day on the Gold Coast, it's a pretty nice place to go, and we're looking forward to that," Lash said.

"We did a regional bus tour there during the pre-season and got around a lot of fans so to be able to expand our fan base is important, and there'll be a lot of people at that game that might not always get to be able to come up to Brisbane to see us play.

"We had a really strong first Ignite Cup game as well at Perth where we won all four quarters, and won the game, so we're motivated by the Ignite Cup too.

"For the guys, there's a financial award and we don't shy away from that, and it's just another level of competition for us that we embrace."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs New Zealand Breakers

Tip off: 6:30pm (AEST), Wednesday 12 November, 2025

Where: Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre

Tickets: Available Here

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