Tough night for Bullets in the 'Gong

The Illawarra Hawks were always going to warm into their NBL championship defence and that happened on Saturday evening on their home floor with the Brisbane Bullets now turning their attention to hitting back in Perth on Wednesday.

The Bullets were playing their fourth game in five matches to start the season on the road at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday, and they had been competitive in three defeats in NBL26 with those only coming at a combined 10 points.

However, Saturday's game didn’t take long to get out of hand with the Hawks opening up a 22-2 advantage in the opening six minutes which they were able to convert into the eventual 116-89 victory.

It was a standout offensive performance from Illawarra who scored their first win of the season by putting up the 116 points while shooting 61 per cent from the field while the Bullets managed to only go 43 per cent including 3/22 from three-point range.

Casey Prather worked tirelessly for the Bullets with 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals with 11/13 shooting from the free-throw line.

Lamar Patterson also provided 17 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks with Jaylen Adams adding 13 points and four assists.

It was a tough night for Bullets centre Tyrell Harrison who was in foul trouble the entire night limiting him to just under 20 minutes for five points, four rebounds and two steals.

Tohi Smith-Milner also had 11 points, two rebounds and two assists, Tristan Devers nine points and two steals, and Alex Ducas six points and two boards.

Tyler Harvey finished with 22 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals for the Hawks with JaVale McGee adding 13 points and 12 rebounds while Todd Blanchfield scored 13 points, Mason Peatling 13, Biwali Bayles 12, and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk 12.

It was the worst possible start for the Bullets with the Hawks desperate to get their first win of the season on their home floor as they came out and scored the opening eight points.

Casey Prather got Brisbane on the board but then Illawarra again scored the next 14 consecutive points to be leading 22-2.

Brisbane did steady for the rest of the quarter from there starting with an and-one from Tohi Smith-Milner before Tristan Devers made four free-throws, and Prather had another three-point play with the Hawks heading into the quarter-time huddle leading 34-18.

Alex Ducas and Jaylen Adams both combined to score for the Bullets early in the second quarter before Prather knocked down a three ball and Adams scored as well to bring the margin back to 15.

Lamar Patterson had a good finish to the half too but Illawarra were leading 68-47 by half-time on the back of shooting 70 per cent from the floor to the 36 from Brisbane despite 17 points from Prather.

The Bullets did come out strongly to start the second half with the first five points and then a 9-2 run to cut the Hawks lead back to 14 points.

But the Hawks answered soon after with another 8-0 run to see their lead back out to 22 and it was still 18 by three quarter-time, and then ended up settling at 27 by the final buzzer.

The Bullets will now play their fifth road game already from six matches to start the season when they take on the Perth Wildcats at RAC Arena on Wednesday night in their first match up of the Ignite Cup.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 89 (Prather 28, Patterson 17, Adams 13)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 116 (Harvey 22, McGee 13, Peatling 13, Blanchfield 13)

BOX SCORE