Taylor, Holt encourage but Bullets fall again

Terry Taylor showed more strong signs and Jacob Holt is finding his groove but ultimately the Brisbane Bullets are struggling to execute well enough and the Perth Wildcats took advantage to win 86-62.

The Bullets were back to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon for a first home game since November 20, but it was always going to be tough with the casualty list growing with the season over already for Casey Prather and Lamar Patterson.

Dakota Mathias fractured his scapula late in the first half of Thursday night's loss in Wollongong to the Illawarra Hawks so the Bullets were without another key player.

His shooting prowess was clearly missed throughout Sunday's contest with the Bullets only ending up shooting at 35 per cent from the field overall and 5/20 from three-point territory on the way to the eventual sixth straight defeat to the tune of 24 points.

Taylor showed encouraging signs of what he can do in the NBL once again for the Bullets with 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots on 8/14 shooting from the field.

Holt also continues to find his feet in the league with the rookie big man having 10 points and three rebounds with Tyrell Harrison contributing 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, and Alex Ducas 10 points and seven boards despite a nasty poke in the eye.

Javon Freeman-Liberty also had eight points, three assists and two steals in his second game back with captain Mitch Norton adding four points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

It was a solid all-round effort in the win for the Wildcats with Ben Henshall finishing with 15 points, David Duke Jr 14, Elijah Pepper 11, Dylan Windler 10, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr nine and Kristian Doolittle eight.

The Bullets were playing their first home game since November 20 and did start well with the first four points after a bucket to Terry Taylor and pair of free throws to Mitch Norton.

Brisbane were still leading 11-9 but then Perth closed the first quarter with a 13-2 run to be leading 22-13 by the end of the opening period with a combined 15 points from David Duke Jr and Ben Henshall.

Taylor knocked down another couple of three-pointers in the second quarter with Alex Ducas hitting one too as they put up 21 points as a team, but stopping the Wildcats was proving tough with them putting up 27 to be leading 49-34.

Taylor was doing his best to keep the Bullets in the contest with 14 points on 6/9 shooting from the floor and 2/4 from downtown, but the rest of the team had just 20 points on 6/23 from the field with 1/6 from deep.

Then in the third quarter, Perth went on a 7-0 run with a couple of sloppy turnovers hurting the Bullets and leading to Henshall dunks in transition as the lead for the visitors got out to a 23-point lead.

The Bullets did get that back to 16 by three quarter-time including a bucket to Holt just on the buzzer before also scoring first in the fourth frame to be back within 14.

The margin stayed around that mark the rest of the way, though, with the Wildcats ending up winning by 24.

The Bullets now are back on the road this coming Saturday to take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix at John Cain Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 62 (Taylor 18, Ducas 10, Harrison 10, Holt 10)

PERTH WILDCATS 86 (Henshall 15, Duke Jr 14, Pepper 11)

BOX SCORE