Smith fires as Bullets claim another win

A fourth quarter full of stunning plays started with Tyrell Harrison's first NBL career three-pointer and finished with a Chris Smith game winner as the Brisbane Bullets beat the Tasmania JackJumpers 80-77 on Wednesday night.

The Bullets might have been coming into the game at Nissan Arena on a two-match winning streak and into sixth position after Sunday's win in Sydney, but getting a victory without on-fire captain Nathan Sobey was going to be a significant test.

Sobey has been putting up 27.5 points over the last five games, but an injured foot suffered on Sunday meant he was ruled out just before Wednesday's game and the Bullets were going to have to dig deep.

They were up against the third placed JackJumpers too and it was a fiercely contested battle right to the death all leading to a dramatic fourth quarter.

Brisbane did lead by eight during the third quarter, but it was just a two-point game going into the fourth which started with Harrison banking in the first three-pointer of his NBL career in just his third attempt.

It was then a spectacular finish that saw the Bullets reclaim a two-point lead with 21 seconds to go when Josh Bannan capitalised on a trap from the Bullets to nab the steal and get the breakaway dunk.

Brisbane still needed a hero and it was Smith who returned to the line-up after missing Sunday's game in Sydney to knock down the three-point bomb with a second on the clock to give the Bullets the three-point win and move them into fifth position at 10-11.

Smith top-scored on the night for the Bullets with 19 points as well including two huge triples in the fourth quarter.

There were plenty more contributors again with Harrison ending up with 13 points, seven boards and two blocks, Bannan 12 points and seven rebounds, and Sam McDaniel 12 points, seven boards and two steals.

Isaac White also had seven points and two assists, Mitch Norton six points and two rebounds, Rocco Zikarsky five points and two boards, Shannon Scott two points and five assists, Aron Baynes two points and three rebounds, and Casey Prather two points and a board in eight minutes.

Milton Doyle top-scored with 19 points for Tasmania while Jack McVeigh contributed 17 points, Jordon Crawford 13 and Brisbane product Will Magnay 11 points and five rebounds.

Brisbane were playing without captain Nathan Sobey for the first time this season but Sam McDaniel ensured they started well when he knocked down a three-pointer.

He hit another soon after to restore the Bullets lead and when he scored once more, the home side was up 10-9 and McDaniel had eight of those 10 points.

Tasmania had managed to open up a slender lead late in the first quarter but the Bullets still went into three quarter-time on top 19-18 thanks to a triple from Isaac White just before the buzzer.

The Bullets opened up the second quarter strongly and five quick points to Rocco Zikarsky down low put them on top 28-22.

The lead remained five after five consecutive points from Chris Smith and by the half-time break the Bullets were still leading 43-38 on the back of taking an extra 10 field goals than Tasmania thanks to 11 offensive rebounds and 16 second chance points.

McDaniel continued his strong offensive night for Brisbane to start the second half to stretch the lead to seven points and soon after it was eight on the back of a three-point play from Smith.

Tyrell Harrison then scored the last six points of the quarter for the Bullets to ensure the home team was still clinging to a 61-59 advantage by three quarter-time.

The fourth quarter started in the most unexpected of ways when Harrison hit the first three-pointer of his 107-game NBL career when he shot it over the top of Marcus Lee. He was already sprinting in for the offensive board but even to the shock of himself, it banked in and he is now 1/3 in his NBL career from downtown.

Smith hit a second three of the game soon after and then Casey Prather scored his first points of the night to give Brisbane an equal game-high eight-point lead with five minutes to play.

Tasmania were always going to hang around, though, and with just over a minute to play when Milton Doyle hit a three scores were all square at 75-75.

The Bullets responded with the trap on the ball handler to force the turnover on the bad pass from Doyle that Bannan intercepted and took it up the other end for the breakaway dunk.

That had Brisbane leading 77-75 with 21 seconds to play and the drama was only just beginning. Jordon Crawford got inside for Tasmania and got his shot off over the top of Harrison and banked it in to tie scores up with 12.3 seconds to go.

Out of a timeout, Smith was left isolated on former Bullet Anthony Drmic, and he rose up and his three-pointer never looked like missing. It was nothing but net to give Brisbane the three-point lead with a second to go, and the eventual win to move up into fifth position.

The Bullets remain at home to play host to the Illawarra Hawks now on Sunday afternoon back at Nissan Arena in what will be their third game in the space of seven days.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 15

BRISBANE BULLETS 80 (Smith 19, Harrison 13, Bannan 12, McDaniel 12)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 77 (Doyle 19, McVeigh 17, Crawford 13)

BOX SCORE