NOW A major event in the National Basketball League (NBL) calendar, HoopsFest kicks off in Perth on January 15th, with the first game being the 10th-placed Brisbane Bullets taking on the contending Sydney Kings.

Brisbane is coming off an unfortunate five-point loss to Cairns, which was only decided in the final minute, with the Taipans slightly taking the edge in a thrilling battle between the NBL’s two Queensland-based teams.

Possibly the most unlucky team in the entire league, the Bullets have been plagued with injuries throughout NBL26, suffering losses to all of their main guys and alongside that, the departure of star guard Jaylen Adams and the brief loss of import Javon Freeman-Liberty have caused enormous changes to be made with so little time. With the lineup changing so frequently, there was no chance for them to gel and build chemistry.

As of HoopsFest, the main players that the Bullets have been left with include Terry Taylor, who proved against Cairns that he can be a great interior scorer bullying his way to the basket, and also Hunter Maldonado, who impressed in his second game for Brisbane with a 31-point performance. His ability to get to the rim whenever he wants and draw fouls is very valuable, and if he can keep up that form, then Brisbane might have a chance, but will go in as extreme underdogs.

Since the midseason break, something switched for Sydney. The Kings have been noticeably better in almost every aspect of the game, and their superstar point guard, Kendric Davis has led the way and looks to be a top-five player in the competition.

While not being as extreme as Brisbane, they have also been unlucky with injuries recently, with forward Bul Kuol tearing an ACL and Matthew Dellavedova going down with a concussion last week. To make things even worse, Xavier Cooks has missed a couple of games due to an ankle injury. In the Kings’ last fixture in a win against Melbourne United, Sydney proved that even without some of its key pieces, it can still win, with Jaylin Galloway stepping up to score a career-high 27 points.

The Kings still had one more import spot left, and they decided to bring someone in before the deadline, that being NBA veteran Torrey Craig. With Craig having previous NBL experience as well as having a playstyle that perfectly fits his team, he will not need much adjustment time and will slide into the squad quite easily, which could be the last piece of the puzzle that can get them over the line to push them into true contention.

The two teams have faced off twice this season, with Sydney winning both on an average winning margin of 31 points. On both occasions, Brisbane had an almost full healthy squad, and had a healthy Casey Prather who, before his injury, was a top player in the competition and top five in scoring with 24 points per game.

Even though the odds are nowhere near in Brisbane’s favour, this is the NBL, and in this league, anything can happen as we’ve seen so many times this season. The game will come down to whether Brisbane can contain Davis, while also getting great performances from both Taylor and Maldonado.