THE Brisbane Bullets may not have got the job done against the Phoenix on the weekend, but Tyrell Harrison provided a spark off the bench in an encouraging performance.

The Bullets fell by a single point to South East Melbourne on Saturday evening, with a few of their big names unable to fire for their first win of the season. With Aron Baynes occupying the starting center spot, Harrison has been forced to bide his time on the bench.

However, against the Phoenix, he sent a message to the coaches with a nice showing as he proved to be a real presence inside the paint, going 5/6 from two-point territory. Once the dangerous Baynes left the court, Harrison ensured the interior pressure remained on the Phoenix, scoring inside and crashing the boards with intent as he flirted with a double-double. It is an extremely promising sign given the fact that injury interrupted his pre-season after starting all last year for the Bullets.

Tyrell Harrison vs. Phoenix – 19 minutes, 11 points, eight rebounds, one block

Harrison entered the match with four minutes remaining in the first term, largely due to the fact that Banyes had picked up two fouls. He got involved almost immediately, crashing the defensive boards after Gary Browne missed a three-pointer. Large in stature, he was matching up against Zhou Qi, which has proven to be a tough task in the past. Despite facing the tallest opponent in the competition, Harrison got on the board with a tip-in within a minute of being on the court. He pulled down another defensive rebound, before heading down the other end and delivering a seriously tough finish inside, pushing through the chest of Zhou and finishing at the rim. The next possession, the Bullets fed him the ball inside, and he drew the shooting foul, making one of two free throws. He had another chance to score in the pick and roll, but a fumble interrupted him from getting a good look.

He started the second term on the bench, with Baynes coming back into the game for the first half of the quarter. Harrison returned four minutes in, and again impacted the contest straight away, swatting away a lay-up attempt from Mitch Creek, who was on fire. He continued to attack the boards and pull down defensive rebounds, but a blemish did come in the form of an offensive foul and turnover. However, he made up for it shortly after with a strong drive inside, finishing the lay-up and drawing contact for an and-one, although the conversion attempt was wayward. Constantly setting picks around the court, Harrison was often involved, but found himself in foul trouble much like Baynes, and had to sit out the end of the second period.

Much like the first half, Harrison checked in halfway through the third, with the Phoenix holding a fair lead. His points total continued to chug along with a nice turnaround shot over the top of the defender chipping away at the deficit. His presence in the paint was as good as ever, with the Phoenix big men unable to keep him off the glass. He combined well with Nathan Sobey to close out the third term with a timely lay-up to keep Brisbane in the game.

The Bullets tried to play him and Baynes on the court for a bit during the last quarter, but it did not work well, and Harrison was left with big man duties with five minutes to go on the clock. The likes of Jason Cadee and Tyler Johnson were getting involved offensively, so Harrison was tasked with setting screens and pulling down boards. He was whacked with an unsportsmanlike foul after a collision with Ryan Broekhoff, wrapping up his night as the Bullets were unable to close out the contest as a whole.

Despite a painfully slim loss, the Bullets will still be encouraged by the performance of Harrison, who showed that the Bullets have a key cog they can rely on off the bench.