Preview: Round 6 v New Zealand Breakers

The Brisbane Bullets return to action at home against the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday afternoon, three weeks since their last game.

Last time out, Brisbane made a statement with a thrilling 96-92 win over the previously undefeated Illawarra Hawks at Nissan Arena. The home crowd spurred the team onto what was arguably their best performance of the season so far.

The Bullets will set their sights on making it two wins from two home games when they come up against the Breakers. New Zealand are still searching for their first win of NBL22, currently sitting at the bottom of the League standings with a 0-6 record.

But the Bullets and Breakers have played out some thrillers in the past, and Sunday afternoon promises to be no different. Already, both teams will be looking for a win as they look to keep in touch with the top four.

Match Details

Tip-off: Sunday, January 9 at 2:00pm AEST

Venue: Nissan Arena

Tickets: AVAILABLE NOW

Broadcast: Live on 10 Peach or Kayo Freebies

Tale of the Tape

Even though they’re yet to win a game this season, the New Zealand Breakers have history on their side going into this clash.

The Breakers’ last trip to Brisbane ended with a five-point win in overtime. But that’s proved to be an historic victory for the team from across the Tasman, with Brisbane being the only city they won their last away game at.

But if we go back further than one game, the rivalry between these two teams makes for a promising game on Sunday afternoon.

From their last 10 meetings in Brisbane, the winning margin has been six-points or less. The one exception was the Bullets’ round 10 win over the Breakers in NBL21, which they won by 21.

In fact, in the two years since the Bullets moved to Nissan Arena, New Zealand have won 75% of their meetings against the Bullets in Brisbane. This is the best winning percentage of any away team at Nissan Arena in the League, with Melbourne United having the next best record (67%).

Recent Form

Bullets: L-W-L-W

Breakers: L-L-L-L-L

While their last game was 21 days ago, the Bullets will be looking to record back-to-back wins for the first time in NBL22 this weekend. Before then, they started their season with an overtime loss before a 1-1 away trip to Perth where they faced the Wildcats.

As for the Breakers, they’ve started with six losses from as many games for the first time in franchise history. Only one out of 26 teams in NBL history has started the season with the same record and managed to make the playoffs.

Since their opening game of the season on December 4, the Breakers have lost each match by an average of 12.83 points. But among those losses was a one-point loss to the Illawarra Hawks in Round 3, losing 97-96.

New Zealand are on a 10-game losing streak on Australian soil, dating back to their two-point win over the Wildcats in Tasmania last season.

Milestones

Jason Cadee is four three-pointers away from reaching 500 3PM in his NBL.

Nathan Sobey is two three-pointers away from 300 3PM in his NBL career.

Key Players

Tyrell Harrison – Brisbane Bullets

Every week, there are a number of players who could be considered as ‘key players’ ahead of a match.

In the win over the Hawks last month, Nathan Sobey balled out in the fourth quarter when the team needed him to, and it reflected in the score. Bullets captain Jason Cadee was also brilliant off the bench once again.

Considering that this match is against New Zealand, it’s time we highlight one of our go-to players. Tyrell Harrison has played for the New Zealand Tall Blacks and has started all of four matches so far this season.

He’s featured a lot for the Bullets this season, having played 30+ minutes twice – those being the first two matches of the season. But most recently, he also put in nearly 28 minutes of work out on the court against the Hawks

In that match against the Hawks, Harrison scored a season high 14 points, which was the second-time this season that he’s reached double digits.

Harrison does his best work off the ball, having reached double digits for rebounds twice in NBL22. In the win over Illawarra, Ty also had eight rebounds and three blocks.

He is a crucial cog to the Bullets machine, and helps keep the wheels turning on both offence and defence.

Finn Delany – New Zealand Breakers

Breakers guard Finn Delany is arguably the dangerman ahead of Sundays game. In five of his six matches this season, he’s reached double figures in points, and currently averages 13.17 across the season.

Interestingly, the Bullets are the only NBL team that Delany has never scored 20-points against – not including NBL new-comers Tasmania though. The most points the 26-year-old has scored against Brisbane is 18.

Last time out, Delany scored a clutch three-pointer with 30 seconds to play in overtime, which helped the Breakers to a five-point win over the Bullets in Brisbane.

Next Home Game

With the Bullets’ away match against the Cairns Taipans rescheduled, Brisbane’s next fixture is a home match against South East Melbourne Phoenix. The match tips off at 4:30pm AEST on Saturday, January 15. Get your tickets here!