Bullets with miraculous win in Adelaide

The injury ravaged Brisbane Bullets produced a win for the ages to keep their own slim NBL finals hopes alive and to put those of the Adelaide 36ers in jeopardy with the 92-89 victory.

It's still going to take a lot to go the way of the Bullets for them to be any hope of breaking into the top six, but what they produced in Adelaide showed great heart and spirit.

Brisbane scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter for the only double-figure lead of the game and then held out Adelaide late who could not get back any closer than two.

The Bullets improve to 12-16 as a result with Casey Prather brilliant with 26 points and seven rebounds while it was Kendric Davis who continued his off shooting night on the buzzer.

The Adelaide guard went 7/22 for the game and 1/8 from deep when he missed an attempting tying three for Adelaide to now be 13-14 and miss a chance to confirm sixth position.

It was the 14th straight sellout of the season for the 36ers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and while Brisbane arrived missing Tyrell Harrison, Rocco Zikarsky, Josh Bannan, Emmett Naar and Deng Adel, they were on a mission.

The Bullets did lead for a lot of the first half, but Montrezl Harrell and Davis combined for the last five points to give Adelaide the 45-42 lead.

Little separated the teams with Adelaide going 15/38 from the field and Brisbane 15/37 before the Bullets sent a real scare into the home team with the first eight points of the last quarter to lead by 13.

The Sixers answered with the next 11 but the Bullets weren’t to be denied with Prather receiving plenty of help with Keandre Cook finishing with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Tohi Smith-Milner also had 14 points and 10 boards with four threes, Isaac White 13 points and four assists, Josh Adams 10 points and five rebounds, and captain Mitch Norton 10 points, five rebounds and three assists with terrific defence on Davis.

"When you think about everything we've gone through, it was just about getting the guys to understand they are doing a great job," Bullets coach Justin Schueller said.

"I've got six guys in double-figures, everyone that came in gave us something and I'm just super proud of how resilient this group really is."

It could be a pivotal loss for Adelaide who now finish on the road to South East Melbourne and Perth with Davis finishing with 24 points and 10 assists despite his shooting woes.

Harrell provided 20 points and 10 rebounds, DJ Vasiljevic 20 points, 10 boards and four assists, and Isaac Humphries 14 points, six rebounds and three assists.

"That one stings a little bit tonight," said Adelaide coach Mike Wells.

"You want to put on a good show for these fans who have been unbelievably supportive this year with 14 sellouts.

"You want to come in and play well and get a win, and it feels bad, really bad to have that be the last regular season home game."

Adelaide has been terrific at home all season and getting to the foul line has been key to that, and their first all points came in that fashion for the early 8-3 lead.

But it was a focused and determined Bullets outfit and nine quick points to Casey Prather had the visitors in front, and then still narrowly leading 22-21 by quarter-time despite giving up 11 free-throw attempts to the 36ers.

Nothing more than four points separated the two teams through the second quarter and it was basket for basket for a lot of it with Adelaide ending up leading 45-42 going into the half-time break on the back of Montrezl Harrell and Kendric Davis combining for the last five points.

The Sixers did start the second half well to open up a seven-point lead, but the Bullets were full of fight and when Isaac White made five straight points himself scores were back level half through the third period.

Out of an Adelaide timeout, Brisbane knocked down three triples with two of them from Smith-Milner and suddenly the Bullets were leading by seven, and by a game high eight just before three quarter-time on the back of a corner three from White.

Brisbane were still leading 68-63 going into the fourth before the Bullets pushed that out to a 13-point lead to start the last period with an 8-0 run with four each from Josh Adams and Prather.

That threw the gauntlet right down to the 36ers and DJ Vasiljevic responded with a couple of three balls and that sparked his team back into action.

Adelaide could never get back closer than two, though, with Brisbane holding on for what will likely be their most memorable win of the season given all the circumstances.

The 36ers now head to Melbourne for another fascinating match up with the South East Melbourne Phoenix while the Bullets have just one game to go next Thursday on the road to the Cairns Taipans.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

ADELAIDE 36ERS 89 (Davis 24, Harrell 20, Vasiljevic 20)

BRISBANE BULLETS 92 (Prather 26, Cook 17, Smith-Milner 14)

BOX SCORE