Preview | R8 Away v Melbourne

Melbourne United are the last remaining team for the Brisbane Bullets to play in NBL27 and that chance presence on Saturday night and they hit the road full of confidence after Wednesday's home win against the Perth Wildcats.

Despite being well short of full strength, the character and culture of the Bullets has shone through in their last two games meaning they head to Melbourne to take on United on Saturday night confident of turning around a tough recent history against them.

The game will take place at John Cain Arena with tip-off set for 6:30pm Queensland time.

The Bullets are fresh off a standout win in Adelaide back on Sunday before backing up at Nissan Arena on Wednesday night with the 109-104 Ignite Cup by 7-Eleven victory against the Perth Wildcats.

That improves the Bullets to a 6-5 record on the season as they take on a United team also building momentum in recent times having won their past three to also be 6-5 on the season so far.

Brisbane will also be looking to overcome the recent history against Melbourne with United having won the past five meetings between the two teams.

The last time the Bullets beat United was December 8, 2024, which was also at John Cain Arena but beyond that, Melbourne have won 17 of the last 18 match ups between the two teams.

But Saturday night will be the first time they have met in NBL27 and the Bullets bring great belief into the clash after Wednesday's win where seven players scored in double figures – Tyrell Harrison (16), Taine Murray (14), Lat Mayen (14), Jaylin Williams (13), Nate Hinton (13), Mitch Norton (13) and Raul Neto (10, eight assists).

Bullets coach Will Weaver is looking forward to the challenge of playing a United team featuring the likes of Cole Anthony, Josh Oduro, Joe Ingles, Luke Travers and Chris Goulding, but is just focusing on what his team need to continue doing.

"It's exciting to play against the unanimous pre-season pick to win it all with tons of Boomers and Tall Blacks on their side, and the addition of Cole, probably the biggest signing of the off-season," Weaver said.

"They're the best defence in the league so will be a huge challenge for us and we're really excited about the opportunity. Mostly, our process is doing everything we can to ignore where we're playing and what the context around the game is in terms of where people are on the ladder.

"The mission and the thing that helps you perform the best is having an approach that understands each opponent asks different questions of your schemes and preparation, but having a routine about preparing in a way that you can rely on no matter if you've got tons of time to prepare or if it's a quick turnaround like this one."

Taine Murray has been a difference-maker since returning from injury for the Bullets over the past five games with the Kiwi delivering 11.6 points and 2.0 assists while shooting 36 per cent from behind the three-point line.

But Murray is just worried about the team and while Wednesday night was impressive with the win at home to the Wildcats, the focus has quickly turned to what they need to do to keep their recent momentum going in Melbourne against United.

"Obviously it's a quick turnaround from Perth and we had a good day yesterday just trying to get our bodies right and recovering and flipping the page to Melbourne," Murray said.

"We travel down there today, and then we have practice when we get there to get ready to play against a team with a lot of super talented players.

"They've got a super talented roster as we know but we're really just trying to focus on ourselves and address the areas that we need to get better in, and hopefully in the process of that, slowing them down and keying in on their personnel.

"Obviously Melbourne's historically been one of the top teams in this league and I think they set the benchmark every year with the roster they have and things like that.

"I think it will be a great test for us just to continue to see where we're at."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Melbourne United

Tip off: 7:30pm (AEST), Saturday 7 November, 2026

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Watch: ESPN via 9GO, 9Now, Foxtel, Kayo and Disney+