Game Preview: Taipans v Phoenix

Back home after a three-game road trip, the Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans step into the club’s biggest night of the season, a blockbuster New Year’s Eve Ignite Cup clash against the South East Melbourne Phoenix at the Cairns Convention Centre.
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‍Where and When

Wednesday, 31 December at the Cairns Convention Centre (6:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Recent Results

Sydney Kings (119) v Cairns Taipans (77)
Adelaide 36ers (93) v Cairns Taipans (73)
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SEM Phoenix (107) v Brisbane Bullets (78)
Tasmania JackJumpers (87) v SEM Phoenix (84)

The Taipans brought physicality on Christmas Eve but fell 93-73 to league leaders the Adelaide 36ers in their Ignite Cup clash at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Cairns set the tone early through Sam Waardenburg, who opened the scoring with a two-hand dunk before knocking down a three as the Taipans deliberately hunted mismatches. Waardenburg was central to Cairns’ best work, punishing switches and facilitating when required to reach 11 points by halftime.

Jack McVeigh made an immediate defensive statement with a first-quarter block on Bryce Cotton as Adelaide edged a tight opening term 23-21. Andrew Andrews provided composure at the point, while shot blocker Kyrin Galloway delivered key defensive moments, twice rejecting import Zylan Cheatham at the rim in the opening half.

Despite Adelaide briefly stretching the margin, Cairns fought back to trail 50-42 at the main break, with agile defender Mawot Mag helping limit Cotton to 10 first-half points on tough shooting.

The Taipans surged to within three midway through the third quarter before Adelaide seized control behind Nick Rakocevic’s career night. The import big man finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, including six offensive boards, as missed free throws proved costly for Cairns late.

Waardenburg finished with a season-high 19 points, while Andrews added 15 in the loss.‍

The last meeting between these sides swung decisively in the second quarter, when South East Melbourne erupted for 36 points to open a gap Cairns couldn’t close in a 101-90 loss.

Angus Glover’s hot shooting punished the home side, while Phoenix ball movement carved up an injury-ravaged Taipans backcourt.

Cairns, however, won the second half 53-37, fighting the game out till the final buzzer.

Portland point guard Andrews recorded an equal-career-high 10 assists in his last outing against SEM.
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This time round, Phoenix has welcomed a new signing to the roster, while the Snakes have a host of players who have returned from the sidelines.

Since the beginning of Round 9, Australian Boomer McVeigh has averaged 26.7 points per game, the most in the league.
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South East Melbourne currently ranks first in the NBL for points (95.8), assists (22.1) and steals (9.3) per game, driven by pace, spacing and relentless pressure.

Veteran shooter Nathan Sobey leads the attack with 21.4 points and 4.3 assists per game, while Jordan Hunter leads the league in three-point percentage (45.5 per cent).

John Brown III continues to be one of the most impactful defenders in the league, ranking fifth in steals per game.

Adding intrigue, the third-placed side recently added championship-proven guard Ian Clark with import Hunter Maldonado released and joining the Brisbane Bullets.

Clark is a pesky two-way presence capable of knocking down shots and relieving playmaking pressure.

The Memphis talent, who has 330 NBA games to his name with Utah, Denver, New Orleans and Golden State, previously won an NBL championship with the Sydney Kings in 2022.

The Phoenix recently welcomed back Next Star Malique Lewis, who had been sidelined since Round 9 due to injury.

Player to Watch: Kyrin Galloway
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‍Kyrin Galloway’s defensive edge and growing confidence make him one to watch on New Year’s Eve.

The shot blocker has embraced tough assignments, highlighted by two second-quarter rejections of 36ers import Zylan Cheatham last game, while also knocking down shots from beyond the arc.

The athletic forward has started the past seven straight fixtures as his all-round game continues to grow.

Head Coach Adam Forde:
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‍“I thought we had a lot of great looks that didn’t drop for us. There’s areas we obviously want to get better at offensively, but even at the foul line we [didn’t capitalise]. There were good looks on the perimeter that generally we would back these guys to shoot it and go in.

"But Adelaide is just a really talented team. There were lapses and momentum swings that we self-inflicted from turnovers and fouls that Adelaide were able to [punish].

"The margin got out to double digits, we were able to bring it back to six points and it felt like we were in touch. But our margin of error had to be pretty small and with too many self-inflicted wounds and shots not falling, Adelaide had so many weapons to exploit it.”

Lineups

Taipans

PG – Andrew Andrews / Kyle Adnam

SG – Mojave King / Kody Stattmann

SF –  Jack McVeigh / Mawot Mag

PF – Kyrin Galloway / Admiral Schofield

C – Sam Waardenburg / Marcus Lee / Jed Richardson

Phoenix

PG – Owen Foxwell / Ian Clark

SG – Nathan Sobey / Angus Glover / Daniel Foster / Patrick Ryan

SF – Wes Iwundu / Malique Lewis

PF – John Brown III / Akech Aliir / DJ Mitchell

C – Jordan Hunter / Ellis Biggar

Ins and Outs

Taipans

Ins – Mojave King, Lloyd McVeigh, Jed Richardson

Outs – Lachlan Barker (personal), Alex Higgins-Titsha (wrist), Reyne Smith (foot)