Taipans hold on against gritty Bullets

The Brisbane Bullets fought hard, but eventually fell on the road to the finals bound Cairns Taipans, 94-87 on Saturday night.

Nathan Sobey started strong, hitting seven of the Bullets first nine points of the game and Aron Baynes getting in on the action too. It was a tight first quarter but it was the Snakes who were able to get out to a 15-11 lead.

Brisbane responded well out of a timeout, closing the opening quarter on a 16-6 run including triples to Tyler Johnson and Sobey. The visiting Bullets had a 27-21 lead at the first break and Sobey already had 14 points on 5/7 shooting. For Cairns, Bul Kuol was starting to put a game together with 12 in the first as well.

Tahjere McCall and DJ Mitchell traded three-pointers to start the second quarter. Meanwhile Sobey (17) and Tyler Johnson (15) continued to build on their strong form of late, combining for 32 of Brisbane's 50 points in the first half. But it was Cairns who took a 51-50 edge into the main break in a game they needed to win to stay in second spot. 

DJ Hogg and Kuol combined to put Cairns up four early in the second half, but Brisbane continued to battle. Five quick points to Aron Baynes sparked a 7-0 run to put the Bullets back up three with the lead continuing to seesaw. However it was the Taipans who held onto a two point advantage going into three quarter-time.

The Snakes were able to knock down some three’s at key moments of the fourth quarter and despite the Bullets showing some encouraging fight, they were unable to get on top of the home side in the end.

Nathan Sobey was great on both ends of the floor for the Bullets with 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 39 minutes of action. Tyler Johnson was equally impressive with an efficient 20 points at 57% from the field, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Aron Baynes added 13 points, three rebounds and two assists, and DJ Mitchell had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Following the game Greg Vanderjagt was pleased with the way the team bounced back from a tough loss on Thursday night while missing some key pieces.

“Obviously we’ve been out of the play-off race for a little while but the way the group has played and responded to the challenges has been really positive,” Vanderjagt said.

“We’ve got a full week of practise next week and we get to play New Zealand again next Saturday night.”

“We keep preparing the same way, we keep reviewing the same way, we keep challenging the guys to do the right thing and they keep responding.”

Tyler Johnson acknowledged the ability of the Taipans to make big plays in key moments of the game.

“There were just little plays throughout the game, especially down the stretch that I think they capitalised on and that’s what good teams do.”

The Bullets have just one game remaining of NBL23 as they face the New Zealand Breakers at home on Saturday night.  

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 17

CAIRNS TAIPANS 94 (Hogg 23, McCall 23, Kuol 23)

BRISBANE BULLETS 87 (Sobey 27, Johnson 20, Baynes 13) 

BOX SCORE