R19 Preview: Brisbane Bullets v SE Melbourne Phoenix

When: 8.00pm (AEST), Saturday 22 May

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Brisbane 94 (Patterson 27, Sobey 20, Drmic 15) d South East Melbourne 82 (Moore 18, Gliddon 17, Te Rangi 12) – Round 19, John Cain Arena, Perth  

Lamar Patterson delivered his best performance since returning to the Bullets this season and Brisbane put together an impressive all-round showing in Melbourne beat the Phoenix on the road to keep themselves right in the playoff hunt.

It was only three weeks ago now and little has changed with both teams going on to stay in the mix for the finals since, with the Phoenix currently inside the top four and the Bullets just outside.

Brisbane raced out to a 22-15 lead at the first break, which came largely due to some superb play from their marquee man Lamar Patterson, and in a small part due to the Phoenix’s ice-cold shooting. South East Melbourne shot 5/24 at quarter-time, equating to 20 per cent shooting from the field. 

Kyle Adnam was able to provide a spark for the Phoenix, though, and to see them gain the lead but the deficit only seemed to inspire Bullets’ sharp-shooter Nathan Sobey, who made a trio of three pointers in the first four minutes of the third quarter. 

The Warrnambool-born Boomer finished with 20 points on 6/13 shooting. Similarly, the Bullets’ Anthony Drmic produced his first 11 points of the game in the third quarter, on his way to 15 for the match. 

It was enough to hand the Bullets a 69-59 lead at the end of the third quarter. It would have been more if not for a last-second bucket from the Phoenix’s Yanni Wetzell (six points, six rebounds), which you sensed kept the Phoenix just within sight. 

But strong fourth quarters from Phoenix’s New Zealand-born pair Reuben Te Rangi (12 points, three assists) and Izayah Le'Afa (nine points, four assists) weren’t enough, as South East Melbourne failed to overcome the double-figure lead. They would go down by a dozen points, 94-82. 

Patterson silenced his doubters again with a strong showing. He finished with a game-high 27 points and seven, and also stood up in the fourth when Phoenix showed flickers of life. 

The now

With the Bullets determined to try and break into the top four and the Phoenix equally as hungry to hold onto their spot they now hold, this is another game with plenty at stake for both clubs in Brisbane.

Coming into Saturday night's clash in Brisbane, the Bullets remain in sixth position with a 14-15 but with seven games of their season remaining which is the most in the league. The Phoenix, meanwhile, have now won three straight to hold a 17-14 record and be two wins clear of the fifth placed Bullets, and three of the Bullets.

The Bullets are now on a run of winning four of their previous six matches and this stretch of improved began back in Round 16 with that road win in Melbourne over the Phoenix. 

They did have a slip up on the road against Adelaide and then in their first of two meetings last week against Perth, but in between had a good win up in Cairns, hammered the Sydney Kings in their return home after a six-week absence and then scored a remarkable comeback win on Wednesday night.

A second loss in five days on their home floor against the Wildcats could very well have been fatal for the Bullets. It looked more than likely too when they fell 18 points down against the reigning champs, but Brisbane showed tremendous heart to fight back and with Lamar Patterson hitting the game winner, they secured the 91-88 victory.

That win kept Brisbane right in the playoff hunt with a 14-15 record and with Patterson finding his groove in the four spot, Anthony Drmic in career-best form, Nathan Sobey and Jason Cadee doing well in the back court, and BJ Johnson finding his feet, they do look a team of making a strong run to break into the top four from here too – but Saturday is another must-win encounter.

Meanwhile, South East Melbourne is now closing in on securing a playoff spot in just their second season in the league, and with coach Simon Mitchell doing such a good job in charge that he has now earned a contract extension as of this week.

This were looking shake for South East Melbourne going back a couple of weeks after disappointing losses to Brisbane and Melbourne, but the Phoenix bounced back to beat the Breakers and Taipans, but it was the Throwdown win over United that really sent a message.

That put them on a three-game winning streak to have a hold on third position, but it was the manner in which they beat the ladder-leaders that was most impressive with Keifer Sykes back in the line-up and dominating with 26 points and six assists.

A win on the road against another challenger for the Phoenix on Saturday night and locking in that playoff position is getting all that closer.

The stats

- This is the first time the teams have met in Brisbane this season and it's their first of three games against one another in the run home, which could end up determining who reaches the playoffs. They also play June 2 in Melbourne and June 8 back in Brisbane.

- If the Bullets are to reach the playoffs in this last season in charge of coach Andrej Lemanis, they will have earned the right well and truly with five of their remaining seven games against teams above them currently in the standings

- When the Bullets win, they score at least 88 points a game. In their 14 victories so far this season, Brisbane has scored 90 points, 105, 93, 97, 115, 95, 96, 109, 88, 88, 94, 96, 93 and 91.

- Meanwhile, the Phoenix score at least 85 points in games that they win. Their wins have seen them to do it with scores of 89 points, 90, 98, 96, 99, 93, 97, 85, 103, 96, 95, 92, 98, 86, 91, 106 and 94.

The key men

Nathan Sobey – Lamar Patterson might be warming to his task back with the Bullets nicely and thriving in the new role in the four spot, but this is still Nathan Sobey's team. He is having the best season of his career, he's a genuine MVP candidate and he's now been added to the Boomers squad for the Olympics. He has now scored double-figures in 36 straight games for the Bullets but has never reached 20 against the Phoenix in five attempts. If he does so on Saturday night, it will go a long way towards victory.

Keifer Sykes – He wasn’t there last time the teams played and his absence was certainly felt significantly. Back in Round 6 against the Bullets he had a triple-double made up of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 16-point win. He was on fire in the three games for the Phoenix last round too averaging 21.0 points while shooting 50 per cent from the field and going 11/11 at the foul line to go with 11 assists and just the one turnover. South East Melbourne looks a remarkably better team with him now back and firing.

The quotes

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis isn’t usually one to look too far ahead, but he is keen to finish his tenure with the club with a finals appearance and now knows they can't afford too many slip ups if they hope to make it.

"We've spoken about it as a team and we don’t have much margin for error. With seven games left, no one knows exactly how it's going to play out, but you'd imagine we would need at least five more wins to have a chance to get in the playoffs," Lemanis said.

"So these home games are crucial. It just means for me the importance of the mentality that we give to it and that's not just on game night. We have to ensure we are doing everything away on the court to be ready to come into play. 

"We now play Saturday, Monday and Wednesday up in Cairns so that's a run of games coming but again it's incumbent on all of us to ensure we are doing all the little things to give ourselves the best opportunity to come out and play well."

Brisbane centre Matt Hodgson was proud of the heart the Bullets showed to fight back to beat Perth on Wednesday and to shake off some of the tendencies that have held them back at times this season.

"I'm not sure if anything really changed a lot in the second half but the defensive intensity picked up, and we did a better job on following the scouting report and were forcing guys to do things they weren’t comfortable with," Hodgson said.

"It was more that we refused to self-destruct when in previous games we have seemed to think it gets too hard for us sometimes. We would fray mentally and just sort of go through the motions, but this time we stayed fully engaged in the game and connected to it, and had a desire to stay in the moment. 

"That's what ended up helping us make some plays down the stretch. The commitment to scout and not self-destructing were probably the biggest factors."

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell was rightfully delighted after his team's win against Melbourne United with how things are coming together with them being closer to a full squad now too with Keifer Sykes and Ryan Broekhoff back, and Mitch Creek back in top form.

"It was a pleasing game – our best performance in a long while. He’s (Creek) back. He’s in a good place right now, he’s in a good frame of mind," Creek said.

I thought he was outstanding…he made plays for his teammates and provided an energy. He’s a leader of this ball club."

Sykes has now been back for the Phoenix in four games and is again showing why he was seen as an MVP contending calibre player back early in the season before he was struck down with multiple injuries.

He was the best player on the floor against United with 26 points and six rebounds, and coach Mitchell couldn’t be happier to have him back.

"We missed him for a long time and it took him a little while to get his mojo back. If you remember, this is what he was doing before he got hurt," Mitchell said.

"He showed excellent composure on both sides of the ball; spread the floor; played the gaps; made great decisions and closed the game out. It was a wonderful performance."

Sykes himself is delighted to be back too and now is looking to help lead this Phoenix as far as possible this season.

"I’m having a lot of fun…it just feels so good to be back. The crazy thing is we’re still getting better," Sykes said. 

"I’m just so tired of hearing people saying how we’re inconsistent or how bad we are when we’re really good, we’re actually really good and we’re only going to continue to get better. Those teams at the top of the ladder know we’re no pushover and that we have high-level players."