Preview: Round 9 vs South East Melbourne

The Brisbane Bullets will be looking to bounce back from two consecutive losses when they host South East Melbourne Phoenix at Nissan Arena tonight at 7:00pm AEST.

Last time out, the Bullets lost a thriller against reigning NBL champions Melbourne United by two-points. While the team couldn’t make the most of some late chances to potentially tie the game, Brisbane can definitely take plenty of positives out of the match against the current league-leaders.

The last time the Bullets faced Phoenix a fortnight ago, they had a loud and passionate Brisbane crowd on their feet as they went on to record a history-making win. A near-perfect first quarter helped Brisbane control the fixture from the get-go.

While they’ve lost two of their three games since, Brisbane are currently fifth on the NBL ladder while Phoenix are two places higher in third. As the Bullets look to avoid a third straight loss, they’ll have to overcome tough opposition.

Match Details

Tip-off: Saturday, January 29 at 7:00pm AEST

Venue: Nissan Arena

Broadcast: Live on ESPN via Kayo or Foxtel

Tickets: Available via Ticketek

Tale of the Tape

The two teams have met once already this season, with the Bullets winning that history-making encounter 100-84 at Nissan Arena two weeks ago.

Brisbane set the tone early on, rewriting the history books with an emphatic 31-6 advantage going into the quarter time break. The 25-point lead was the Bullets’ largest lead at quarter time in team history.

Playing in front of their home crowd, the strong first quarter spurred the Bullets onto an important win. 11 different players contributed to the scoreboard on the night, with guard Nathan Sobey leading the way with 18-points.

The win also extended Brisbane’s recent dominance over the head-to-head meetings against South East Melbourne to three consecutive wins, with the Bullets also having won four of the last five between the two teams.

Recent Form

Bullets: L-W-W-L-L

Phoenix: W-L-L-W-W

After a tough loss at home to the New Zealand Breakers, Brisbane returned to winning ways with a dominant win over South East Melbourne less than a week later. The Bullets made a statement to the League with their 16-point win over one of the form teams early-on in the competition.

Brisbane backed this up on the following Friday with another victory, recording consecutive wins for the first time in NBL22 after showing plenty of character against the Sydney Kings. They ran riot in the final quarter to complete a mighty comeback, after trailing by 16 at quarter time.

That win over the Kings last Friday had the Bullets inside the top four on the Hungry Jack’s National Basketball League (NBL) standing, however the Bullets have since lost two games in a row, after an away trip to Sydney before hosting reigning NBL champions Melbourne United.

Looking to avoid a third-straight defeat, Brisbane will face a team who’s in the top four for the sixth time this season. But they’ve arguably performed at their best in these matches, having beaten Perth (currently 2^nd), Illawarra (4^th) and Phoenix (3^rd) earlier in NBL22.

Since losing to the Bullets two weeks ago, South East Melbourne have beaten both Tasmania JackJumpers and Cairns Taipans. Their two-game winning streak currently sees them occupying the third spot on the NBL ladder.

Against the JackJumpers, a 32-15 third quarter in Phoenix’s favour arguably proved the difference in the 13-point win. Tasmania actually outscored their opponents in the other three quarters.

One dominant quarter also proved the difference in the 10-point win over Cairns, with Phoenix outscoring their opponents 30-18 in the second period.

Team News

Tyrell Harrison – Brisbane Bullets

After going off injured in the loss to Sydney on Sunday, New Zealand international Tyrell Harrison is set to return to the line-up for tonight’s clash.

Zhou Qi – South East Melbourne Phoenix

Chinese international Zhou Qi will not feature for Phoenix in tonight’s clash because of an illness, with the team making the announcement on their Instagram yesterday.

Fun Fact

Nathan Sobey and Jason Cadee can’t be separated in 3PM over a 33-game run at Nissan Arena. Playing in front of their home fans, both players have converted 71 shots from beyond the arc from the same amount of games at the venue.

Players to Watch

Lamar Patterson – Brisbane Bullets

Patterson is definitely a player to look out for tonight, with the American having stood out in the last two games against the Kings and Melbourne United. The 30-year-old was highlighted on our socials as a standout in those two matches with the Hostplus Performance of the Game.

In the loss against the Kings in Sydney, Patterson led the way in both points and rebounds with 16 and eight respectively.

Then in the nail biter against Melbourne, he put up similar numbers with a team-high 21-points, as well as seven rebounds.

Nathan Sobey is a player deserving of a mention himself, having had a team-high 18-points the last time these two teams met.

Less than a week later, Sobes backed this up with a season-high for points against the Sydney Kings, dropping 30 for the first time this season.

Sobey also notched up an impressive milestone last time out against Melbourne, playing his 200^th NBL game.

Mitch Creek – South East Melbourne Phoenix

Mitch Creek has been the go-to option for Phoenix, with the forward having led the team in points in their last four matches. Creek has also scored the most points of any South East Melbourne player in five of their last six matches.

In the last meeting between Phoenix and the Bullets, the 29-year-old scored 19-points – which was the most points scored by any player in that particular game.