How to watch & talking points: Cairns v Brisbane

Cairns Taipans v Brisbane Bullets
Thursday, October 8, 7.30pm AEDT
Cairns Convention Centre

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How to watch

Watch every NBL27 game live on ESPN.

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Tickets

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How to follow & live scores

Live scores, stats, breaking news and game highlights are available via the free NBL App.

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Rosters

Cairns

Expected depth chart:
PG: J.Brown (IP) / Paul (NS) / Bruce (out) / Nunn (DP)
SG: J.Galloway (out) / Smith / L.McVeigh (DP)
SF: Lewis (IP) / Dech (out) / W.Brown
PF: J.McVeigh / K.Galloway / Williamson (NRP)
C: Pinder / Bolden / Yates (DP)

Brisbane

Expected depth chart:
PG: Velička (IP) / Norton / Duach (DP)
SG: Mackinnon / Murray (out) / Bruton (DP)
SF: Hinton (IP) / McDaniel (out) / McRae (DP)
PF: Williams (IP) / Mayen / Rouhliadeff
C: Harrison / Holt / Woodhill (NRP)

Missing in action

Cairns

Shaun Bruce - Groin - Test
Jaylin Galloway - Shoulder - Round 6
Sunday Dech - Hamstring - Round 8

Brisbane

Taine Murray - Lower Limb - Round 4-6
Sam McDaniel - Lower Leg - Round 8

>> View full injury list

Talking points

A star is born

After missing the first five games of Hungry Jack's NBL27 Season with an injured ankle, Next Star Luke Paul will make his long-awaited debut on Thursday night.

The 17-year-old prodigy is one of the country's top rising talents, with him already drawing comparisons to both John Stockton and Josh Giddey.

While the Duke University commit will likely be eased into Adam Forde's rotation, expect plenty of incredible flashes as early as tonight for the potentially NBA-bound guard.

Response from Bullets and Velicka

Eight days is a long time in basketball, and the Brisbane Bullets are proof of that. Rewind to the start of Round 3, and they were flying high at 2-0, but since then, Will Weaver's side have lost two straight.

A reason for that could be Arnas Velicka's shooting, which was just 26.9 per cent across those two losses, significantly down from his 35.7 per cent for the season.

While his passing and assist totals will always be there, Brisbane needs their Lithuanian orchestrator to be hitting his shots too.