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The Cairns Taipans will be out to continue their impressive run of form and move to within inches of the NBL top four when they host the struggling and understrength Brisbane Bullets at the Cairns Convention Centre on Sunday evening.
The Taipans were plastered to the bottom of the table just a fortnight ago, the team relying on their defence-first approach far too heavily and not playing well on the road at all.
That has gone out the back window for now though, as they push for a third straight victory, which easily could have been fourth after they went down to the Perth Wildcats in overtime on the road last week.
Since that though, they have come up with victories against the Illawarra Hawks and a road win over the New Zealand Breakers to start Round 17.
With some wins in the preceding weeks, the Taipans are all of a sudden in sixth, and a win today will move them equal on the table in fifth, with either the Sydney Kings or the New Zealand Breakers, who play in the 3pm game.
A record of 11 and 12 probably reflects the Taipans season pretty well and with some games up their sleeve – they have only played 23, the lowest in the competition – they have a big chance to still qualify for the finals.
As for the Bullets, it’s been an absolutely disastrous couple of weeks with injuries essentially ruining their season and consigning them to the bottom of the table.
It’s not difficult to see why, with talent sitting on the sidelines including Cameron Bairstow, Anthony Petrie and Jermaine Beal. Given they were hanging on at times with them on the floor, they were never going to have the depth to cover that level of injuries – then again, neither would any other team.
With a record of just 10 and 15, they have lost seven of their last nine and by the time the game tips off, they will be the first team will be out of contention to make the playoffs, with the bridge becoming too far for the top four.
That comes after getting this round underway with a three-point loss to the Sydney Kings. Despite the best efforts of Torrey Craig and Daniel Kickert who led the club to a 47 per cent shooting percentage, it just wasn’t enough.
In the season series, which it’s hard to see affecting the playoffs the Bullets have a two-to-one lead and a 24 point differential advantage, meaning the Taipans would need a massive win to take it and any potential higher spot on the ladder, which, as mentioned probably shouldn’t matter too much.
The Taipans are in-form and always turn up for their games at home. With the Bullets missing players left, right and centre, it’s hard to see them having the offensive production to get the better of a Taipans team who are going to choke them on defence.
While the Taipans won’t run up a massive number of points – 75 to 80 would be a good bet – it’s hard to see the Bullets scoring more than 60, so it could get pretty ugly.
Taipans by 17.
Start time: 7pm (AEDT) – 6pm (local)
Venue: Cairns Convention Centre
TV: Live, Fox Sports 503
Betting: Taipans $1.50, Bullets $2.60
Last meeting: Round 13, Bullets 93 defeat Taipans 76 at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre