IN TONIGHT’s NBL matchup, the Brisbane Bullets will face the New Zealand Breakers for the second time this season, with both teams looking to bounce back from their losses against the undefeated Melbourne United.

Currently sitting as the seventh seed, the Bullets have not had an ideal first seven games, only being able to rack up two wins while suffering five defeats. The losses are not due to a lack of talent, but rather their ability to find a rhythm and go on a run.

The club has brought in star guard Jaylen Adams, who so far in his NBL career for Sydney has demonstrated his superstar ability and has been one of the best guards in the competition, and while his output has gone down so far this season he still has been a valuable and consistent player and has shown to be a good pickup.  

Their main standout has been Casey Prather, who at 34-years-old has looked to only get better as he ages, being a dominant force on the offensive side of the ball, currently standing as the fifth highest scorer in the league putting up an impressive 25.5 points per game.

Alongside Prather has been superstar bigman Tyrell Harrison who is putting up an impressive double double each night with 17 points and 10 boards per game. While these performances have been great, it is yet to translate to wins so far.

The Breakers have found themselves in quite a predicament so far in NBL26, that being from a lack of depth throughout the roster as Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Sam Mennenga have been the only main standouts, with the rest of the squad struggling to provide valuable output which translates to wins. Next Star Karim Lopez has also been a valuable player for the squad, as he looks like the best youngster in the league and has shown that he is polishing his game up smoothly to prepare for the NBA draft. 

The same matchup took place in Round 1, with Brisbane securing a nine-point win as it outscored the Breakers in every quarter. While it was quite a close matchup, (104-95) each starter for Brisbane were able to each have star games, which can not be said for the Breakers. Javon Freeman-Liberty, Adams, Harrison and Prather all were able to provide incredible performances and helped guide the team to victory.

While the Breakers did have some good performances, it just wasn’t good enough. 17 per cent from the three point line on 29 attempts were their main let down which cost them the game, as the Bullets shot an impressive 40 per cent on 25 attempts.

Jackson-Cartwright put up an impressive sixteen points and twelve assists, and Mennenga had fourteen and eight rebounds. New import Izaiah Brockinton put up a respectable sixteen points in his first official NBL game, which was good but not enough.

Tonight is a must win for each team, as they both are desperate to start getting some wins on the board, and with this matchup being an eighth against seventh matchup, we could see it go either way.