Bullets prevail to send Phoenix to 0-5

James Batemon showed what he's capable of, Tyrell Harrison dominated down low and the Brisbane Bullets held out the South East Melbourne Phoenix 87-85 in the battle of winless NBL teams at John Cain Arena.

With the Phoenix at home and starting the season 0-4 and hosting the Bullets who opened up 0-3, pressure was on both teams for the Saturday night match up, and they did play like two nervous teams for a lot of the evening.

In the end, the Bullets shook off a 12-point first half deficit on the back 21 offensive rebounds for 21 second chance points with Harrison ending up with 21 points and 17 boards (12 offensive) and Batemon 20 points on 6/9 three-point shooting.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller liked the adjustments his team made all week in preparation for the match up.

"The most enjoyable part is that I thought we put four quarters together," Schueller said.

"There were little dips and what not, but the gaps that we'd been having didn’t feel like they were there tonight and we challenged ourselves to change our mindset a bit.

"We knew that after three games we were looking at the negatives too much so we changed that this week and I think that's how we played the whole way. I'm just proud of how we responded."

There was plenty to play for on the home floor as star Phoenix recruit Nathan Sobey met Brisbane for the first time since an acrimonious exit in the off-season.

But lapses in intensity once again cost the Phoenix, who face a tough task to turn things around as Melbourne United and Illawarra await before the month is out.

Despite the loss, coach Mike Kelly felt his side was showing progress.

"As I was coming into this game tonight, win or lose, I just wanted to play how we trained, and I think for the most part we did that," he said.

"Guys are frustrated and there wasn't a lot of smiling at practice this last week, but I like that. I want the guys to come in motivated and chippy and that's how we were.

"I think we definitely made strides defensively this week ... Offensively I thought at times we were stagnant, and at times the ball moved really well and we got great shots,"

Championship-winning guard Derrick Walton Jr helped the Phoenix lead by as many 12 points in the second quarter and then kept them in the game late

The former Grand Final MVP had nine of his 19 points in a tense final quarter.

But with the chance to force overtime from an inbound play in the final 10 seconds, Walton could not shoot over Josh Bannan to level the scores and Brisbane held on.

The Phoenix were also left to rue inviting their visitors back into the game either side of half-time, with Harrison sparking a 17-5 run to begin the third quarter.

Harrison was crucial to the Bullets' domination of the offensive rebound count, his 12 for that stat equalling the record for most in an NBL game during the 40-minute era.

Batemon had the best game of his short NBL career, hitting back-to-back threes as Brisbane chipped away at the Phoenix's lead late in the second half.

Batemon finished with six triples from nine attempts, his last to restore a seven-point buffer as the Phoenix chased the lead late.

Sobey (five points, three rebounds, three assists) came off the bench for his grudge match against the Bullets and had another tough night shooting the ball.

The Olympic bronze medallist landed only one of his first eight attempts from the field - a corner three just before half-time.

The Bullets are back home on Thursday night to host the New Zealand Breakers fresh off their three-game NBLxNBA tour while the Phoenix have until next Sunday to play Melbourne United in a Throwdown.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 85 (Hurt 24, Walton Jr 19, Wieskamp 10)

BRISBANE BULLETS 87 (Harrison 21, Batemon 20, Prather 15, Cook 15)

BOX SCORE