Round 11: Taipans v Bullets

Round 11: Taipans v Bullets
(Cairns Convention Centre, 6:30pm)
Watch live on ESPN | GET TICKETS 

LAST MEETING

Cairns got the road win at Nissan Arena in Round 7, with a 90-82 victory behind 25 points from Keanu Pinder and 20 points from DJ Hogg, while Shannon Scott had 10 assists. The Taipans have won their last five games against the Bullets (including a 4-0 sweep last season) with Head Coach Adam Forde boasting a perfect record.  The Taipans will climb to third on the ladder with a win tonight.

LINE-UP

The Taipans have a full squad for the Queensland clash, with the Brisbane Bullets announcing last night their new import Andrew White III will suit up and Cairns-product Kody Stattman (ankle) will also return to their line-up.

LOOK FOR

The Taipans to close out the fourth. In the last three games that Cairns have played, the scores have been tied inside the last 10 seconds of the game. Their last two games have gone to overtime (winning both) and they have won 3 of their last 4 home games.

Meanwhile, Bullets assistant coach Greg Vanderjagt has been elevated to the head coaching role, as he leads Brisbane for the first time in his interim role.

LATEST WORDS

“This is where the hectic schedule starts to kick in, and what we’ve been preparing for all season. Now training becomes a maintenance and content-type workload. We’ve got five games in 13 days, then a break for Christmas, and then 10 games in 31. Everybody’s got a similar type of schedule but the big focus for us is how we were preparing leading up to this moment. Everyone’s healthy, everybody’s feeling good. And, everyone enjoys playing more than training,” – Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde

"We’re expecting them to play hard. They signed a new import, but we’re not sure whether or not he’s going to play yet. We’re just going to play our game, and not worry about them. We’re focused on ourselves, improving on ourselves. My body is pretty banged up, I’ve got a sore rib and I’ve been taking it easy the last couple of days. I’m pretty tired but I’m excited about this round. It means a lot to me to bring light to Indigenous culture in Australia. It’s good to see the NBL making an effort,” – Keanu Pinder

Next Home Game: Tuesday 20 December, 6:30pm vs Perth Wildcats. GET TICKETS