Bullets' bigs fire in vital win

Monday, January 22, 2024

Brisbane have moved back to fourth, beating Cairns 102-84 thanks to a dominant first half.

Booed again by his hometown crowd, Aron Baynes has had the last laugh as the Brisbane Bullets hit back impressive from losing in Perth on Friday to beat the Cairns Taipans to move back to fourth.

The Bullets came into the round having won the past four matches to break into the NBL's top six, but then were brought back to earth with a thud on Friday night with a 32-point loss in Perth to the Wildcats.

The Snakes had their own win to start the round back on Thursday with a Lat Mayen three on the buzzer against the Illawarra Hawks, so the onus was on Brisbane to hit back against a Taipans team they have struggled against in recent times.

Despite the short turnaround coming back from Perth, the Bullets sprinted 21 points clear at half-time and steadied in the third and fourth term to stave off the Taipans' best swings in a crucial 102-84 Sunday victory in Cairns.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This game has been an absolute DUNK-FEST ?<br><br>Catch the second half live and free on ESPN2 via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach & 10 Play ? <a href="https://t.co/4ajVMZHlUx">pic.twitter.com/4ajVMZHlUx</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1748952968383037557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Far North product Baynes had a season-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds, hitting all three attempted triples including two in quick succession which killed off the Taipans' hopes in the fourth quarter.

He had earlier tangled with Mayen under the hoop, pushing the Cairns forward to the ground as both received fouls. The two had clashed earlier in the season and were ejected as a result.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aron Baynes and Lat Mayen received a double foul for this incident ?? <a href="https://t.co/PIxm6R5sQe">pic.twitter.com/PIxm6R5sQe</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1748955056970367329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

An NBA champion with San Antonio and Olympic bronze medallist, Baynes has become the pantomime villain of the Queensland NBL derby after a five-game ban for clashing with Mayen and Cairns coach Adam Forde earlier this season.

The hulking centre has been booed in both visits to the Cairns Convention Centre since.

But Brisbane have won both and Baynes has found his role off the bench in an improving Bullets unit that has turned a corner under first-year coach Justin Schueller.

Bullets captain Nathan Sobey (18 points, five assists) continued his strong season while Tyrell Harrison (16 points, 13 rebounds) maintained his career-best form and Sam McDaniel (14 points) and Chris Smith (11 points) chipped in.

What three-time NBL champion Casey Prather showed in 16 minutes with eight points was encouraging for Brisbane too after he missed the past two games with illness.

Frustrated Taipans captain Tahjere McCall (13 points, five rebounds, three assists) fouled out in the final quarter, with Bul Kuol (19 points) the host's most productive player in a loss that drops them to sixth.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 16

CAIRNS TAIPANS 84 (Kuol 19, Miller 14, McCall 13)

BRISBANE BULLETS 102 (Sobey 18, Harrison 16, Baynes 15)

BOX SCORE