WHEN the Brisbane Bullets faced off against the Cairns Taipans at home in the National Basketball League (NBL) on Sunday afternoon to close out the round, the latter ended up winning 81-72.

Both Cairns and Brisbane have had unsuccessful seasons, with Brisbane sitting in last place with six wins, while Cairns was just one spot above. Though the Taipans have struggled all throughout, even while having their full roster for the most part, the Bullets have been unfortunately plagued with injuries season long, with multiple of their star players suffering from season ending injuries. This loss marks Brisbane’s eleventh straight loss, with its last win being on December 22 against the New Zealand Breakers.

Before injury, Casey Prather was the leader of the pack for Brisbane, performing at a career-high level, some even say an MVP-contending level, until he suffered a season-ending injury, and from then on, things seemed to get worse and worse. With the loss of Prather, Tyrell Harrison was next to step up to be the main option offensively, averaging 15 a game, until he also suffered an injury. In the second half of the season, the Bullets opted to sign both Terry Taylor from the Sacramento Kings and Hunter Maldonado from SEM Phoenix, who have both taken the responsibility as the main scoring options in this late-season period.

The biggest problem for the Bullets, which has affected them almost all season long, has been their offensive efficiency. Their lack of playmakers has caused struggles to get good looks, which was shown against Cairns, shooting 13 per cent from three on 23 attempts.

Since Maldonado signed with Brisbane, he has averaged 17 points a game and has been providing a scoring threat as the main option, but he was not able to get his scoring going on Sunday, struggling to score from good looks, thus his 33 per cent field goal efficiency.

Taylor was the main bright spot for Brisbane, having a career-high 25 points with nine rebounds, and was the most efficient player for the team. Young star Jacob Holt, while struggling efficiency wise, had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.

For Cairns, Andrew Andrews continued his playmaking frenzy, with a double-double of 10 assists and 12 points. Jack McVeigh led scoring-wise with 22 points and although not being the most efficient game, he was able to score the ball when most needed. Kody Stattmann and Marcus Lee had a huge impact off the bench, with Stattmann dropping in a helpful 15 points, and Lee having a near double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.

The Bullets now have two games to finish off their NBL26 campaign, in which they will play both the Sydney Kings and the Perth Wildcats, two finals-bound teams. While this season has been one to forget, the club will know what pieces need to stay and who needs to go, and along with the opportunity to bring in new talent domestically or overseas, they will be bound to bounce back from a disastrous season.

Meanwhile, the Taipans, while having great individual players, have just not been able to put together wins and look like a good, gelled-together team. They will next play Melbourne United and the Breakers, and then also look to potentially go into a rebuild to be more successful next season.