Recap | Bullets back it up to go 2-0

The Brisbane Bullets kept their momentum going and brought it to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday night with Max Mackinnon starring with 31 points and six three-pointers in the 103-95 win over the Illawarra Hawks.

The Bullets started the new season under new coach Will Weaver with the come from behind win at a sold out Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday night against the New Zealand Breakers ahead of hosting the Hawks at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday.

This time it was Brisbane with the better of the start to push out to a 16-point lead in the second quarter and then again being up 11 early in the fourth only for the Hawks to fire back and pick up the momentum for the first time in the game.

Illawarra were back within a point with 2:30 to play only for Brisbane to take control once more and to score 12 of the next 14 points of the game on the way to securing the eight-point win to make a 2-0 start to NBL27.

The Bullets ended the game taking an extra nine free-throw attempts than the Hawks while collecting 18 offensive rebounds.

Rookie sensation Max Mackinnon was the star with 31 points, 12 rebounds and two assists with 6/8 three-point shooting.

Arnas Velička also delivered another 17 points, 11 assists, four rebounds and two steals with Nate Hinton contributing 16 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, and Tyrell Harrison 17 points, five boards and four assists.

Jacob Holt produced 12 points and four rebounds on 5/7 shooting with Jaylin Williams a +13 in his 22 minutes with four points and four rebounds while captain Mitch Norton was +15 with two points and three assists with Lat Mayen also adding four points and six rebounds.

Coming off the momentum from Tuesday night's win over the New Zealand Breakers, the Bullets started strongly against the Hawks and ended up leading 25-18 by the end of the first quarter.

Arnas Velička already had another eight points and three assists by quarter-time while the Bullets did get up an extra five shot attempts thanks to collecting five offensive rebounds.

When Nate Hinton completed a three-point play late in the second quarter the Brisbane lead was out to as much as 16 points but Illawarra did have a good finish to the half to cut the Bullets lead back to 50-42 at half-time.

Max Mackinnon had caught fire to be up to 14 points on 3/5 shooting from the outside with Velička having 11 points and seven assists with Brisbane having attempted three more shots and having nine offensive rebounds.

Mackinnon scored another 10 points in the third frame with another pair of triples and the Bullets remained in front 73-66 by three quarter-time.

Brisbane then scored the first four points of the fourth quarter leading to an early Illawarra timeout with the lead growing to 11 once more, but the Hawks did fire back and all of a sudden it was a one-point ball game with 2:30 to play.

But the Bullets answered with three-pointers to Mackinnon and Hinton and went on a 12-2 run on the way to securing the eight-point victory.

The Bullets will now hit the road for the first time in NBL27 for an Ignite Cup match up with the defending champion Sydney Kings on Wednesday night.

GAME DETAILS

BRISBANE BULLETS 103
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 95

Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Friday September 25

Max Mackinnon – 31 points, 12 rebounds, 6/8 3PT
Tyrell Harrison – 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Arnas Velička – 17 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds
Nate Hinton – 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals
Jacob Holt – 12 points, 4 rebounds