Bullets survive another late fade to oust Cairns

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Brisbane have broken a three-game NBL losing streak, but not without a scare as they limped home 84-79 winners in Cairns.

There was plenty of spice in the Sunshine Stoush once again, but the shooting of Chris Smith was ultimately the difference as the Brisbane Bullets beat the Cairns Taipans 84-79.

It was the first Sunshine Stoush match up since a heated affair in Brisbane back on October 7 where NBA champion Aron Baynes was handed a five-game suspension after multiple incidents as his Bullets lost a ninth straight match to the Taipans.

Redemption was on the mind of the Bullets at Cairns Convention Centre on Friday night both to snap that losing run to the Snakes but also to shake off a run of three straight losses with rough finishes to each after being in a winning position.

It ended up being a game with no shortage of tension between the Queensland rivals once more with the two guard battle between Nathan Sobey and Bul Kuol especially fascinating, but it was the Bullets who found their way 20 points in front to start the fourth quarter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not one. Not two. Not three.<br><br>But a FOUR point play from Chris Smith ? <br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/GY7Nwkuvnz">pic.twitter.com/GY7Nwkuvnz</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1730525852343943495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It was Smith who was instrumental in Brisbane opening up that lead with the sharpshooting import scoring 11 of his 17 points for the game in the third quarter.

He added another triple to start the final period to put the Bullets up 20, but having given up winning positions in losses to Tasmania, Sydney and Perth, Brisbane weren't over the line just yet.

The Taipans knew that as well and little used import Josh Roberts provided a spark including a finish at the rim to get the lead back to 10 with almost four minutes still to play.

Sloppy turnovers - 19 in all - kept Cairns interested and a Tahjere McCall (29 points) three-point play made it an eight-point game with two minutes remaining.

The Taipans standout drilled a triple and forced another turnover to make it a three-point game with 16 seconds on the clock.

The ball spilled loose after Brisbane's sloppy inbound pass but rolled out off a Cairns foot, Nathan Sobey (14 points, six rebounds) finding possession from the restart to seal the game at the line.

Cairns' Swedish top-20 NBA draft prospect Bobi Klintman was active early, a steal and dunk followed by another highlight-reel slam creating some rare fluency.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not one. Not two. Not three.<br><br>But a FOUR point play from Chris Smith ? <br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/GY7Nwkuvnz">pic.twitter.com/GY7Nwkuvnz</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1730525852343943495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Brisbane's 17-year-old Next Star Rocco Zikarsky proved a handful around the rim with a six-point flurry which included two putbacks on offensive rebounds and bench guard Isaac White had an impact as the visitors got seven points clear in the second quarter.

The 11 points in the third quarter from Smith helped Brisbane to a 14-point edge by three quarter-time which became 20 early in the fourth after triples from Smith and Mitch Norton.

Cairns weren't done, though, and a 13-3 run sparked by Jonah Antonio and Roberts set up the thrilling finish, but in the end the Bullets just did enough to beat the Snakes for the first time in 10 attempts.

HUNGRY JACKS NBL ROUND 9

CAIRNS TAIPANS 79 (McCall 29, Miller 12, Waardenburg 11)

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Smith, 17, Sobey 14, White 10)

BOX SCORE