Gritty Bullets win in skipper's 400th

The Brisbane Bullets continued to have all the answers whenever the South East Melbourne Phoenix challenged and even without an import point guard, captain Mitch Norton celebrated NBL game 400 with the 115-105 home win.

The Bullets were back home at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre trying to avoid a fourth straight defeat but that was going to be challenge without Arnus Velička and with his replacement Raul Neto yet to arrive.

The Phoenix had also lost four of their past five games and were going to have their handful missing starting centre Jordan Hunter with the Bullets possessing Tyrell Harrison inside.

The Bullets found the going far too easy to execute at the offensive end and while the Phoenix had a good offensive night themselves, they just couldn’t stop anything the home team was doing up the other end.

That saw Brisbane leading by as much as 15 points in the third quarter and even after Jacob Holt and Harrison both went off with ankle injuries, they held firm for the 10-point win to improve to a 3-3 record.

Rookie sensation Max Mackinnon once again starred with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists with 4/8 three-point shooting.

Jaylin Williams stepped up with 19 points and six rebounds on 3/5 shooting from deep with Nate Hinton contributing 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, Lat Mayen 14 points and four boards, and milestone man Norton 11 points and nine assists.

Even with their nights ending early with ankle injuries, Harrison (14 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Holt (13 points, three boards) had a big impact too.

It was a tough night especially defensively for the Phoenix who are 2-5 with Angus Glover delivering 27 points with 9/14 shooting along with 6/6 at the foul line.

Skylar Mays added 20 points, six assists and three steals with Nathan Sobey battling through a corked quad for 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Brisbane did as they pleased at the offensive end to lead 30-24 at quarter-time, with 10 points and a couple of triples already from Max Mackinnon, while former Bullets captain Nathan Sobey had seven points for South East Melbourne.

The Bullets continued to be able to score far too easily thanks to breakdowns and misreads on defence from the Phoenix, but South East Melbourne's offensive firepower saw them get back into the contest by half-time.

Brisbane were just clinging to the 56-55 advantage by half-time but their offence was flowing nicely with 19/34 shooting from the field and 12/14 at the foul line with 13 points from Lat Mayen, 10 from Tyrell Harrison, 10 from Jaylin Williams and still 10 from Mackinnon.

Sobey was showing the way for the Phoenix still with 15 points while Angus Glover had chimed in with nine points and Akech Aliir seven.

The Bullets took back control in the third quarter going up 15 when Mackinnon scored five minutes into the half.

But the Phoenix hit back and got within six when former Bullet Tanner Krebs hit an open three in transition before Skylar Mays brought them back within three.

Brisbane were still leading 90-84 by three quarter-time, though, and they did continue to have the answers with big scores any time the Phoenix got back within striking distance.

The Bullets then had both big men Jacob Holt and Harrison leave with ankle injuries in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter but even with that, the home team didn’t give up their control and went on to score the 10-point win.

It's the lone game of the round for the Bullets with them next in action on the road twice in Round 5 to the Tasmania JackJumpers on Wednesday and Illawarra Hawks on Saturday.

The Phoenix have a quick turnaround to hosting the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night.

BRISBANE BULLETS 115 – SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 105

Brisbane Bullets
Max Mackinnon – 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists
Jaylin Williams – 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Nate Hinton – 16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals
Tyrell Harrison – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Lat Mayen – 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

SE Melbourne Phoenix
Angus Glover – 27 points, 2 rebounds
Skylar Mays – 20 points, 6 assists, 3 steals
Nathan Sobey – 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Dash Daniels – 12 points, 1 assist, 1 steal
Tanner Krebs – 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists