Round 2: Taipans v Phoenix

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans @ South East Melbourne Phoenix, 4:30pm AEST (John Cain Arena)

• Watch on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Foxtel
• Watch together at the Reef Hotel Casino (Official Away Game Watch Venue)                              

TAIPANS TICKETS | LIVE STATS

LAST MEETING

The two teams are yet to meet this year, with no matchups at the NBL Blitz either. The Taipans did not even play on Phoenix’s home floor at all last season – with their only game against Cairns being played out of Traralgon. Phoenix won 87 – 77 but in their final meeting of 2021-22 at the Cairns Convention Centre, the Taipans won 90 – 85.

LINE-UP

Sharpshooting Australian Jonah Antonio will make his down under debut after an impressive collegiate career across four different schools. Antonio missed the Taipans season opener after tweaking his ankle at shootaround, but “Quick Six” will be ready to make a good first impression today. Forward Lat Mayen remains sidelined and did not travel with the team, expecting to suit up for his own Taipans debut in Round 3.

LOOK FOR

Another imposing performance from DJ Hogg, who racked up a remarkable stat line of 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals. On Monday night he became the first player in NBL history ever to have four blocked shots and make three three-pointers on debut.

LATEST WORDS

“My body’s alright, I’m holding up and I’ll be fine for the weekend. It feels great to get a win to open the season, but that was expected for us. We all know what we can do and what we can provide to the league. I think we’re going to do well this season,” – Keanu Pinder on the last game

“All our guys are positive right now, but we understand we’ve only won one game. Winning that first game isn’t going to win us the season and we’ve got to be ready for South East Melbourne. There’s a lot of smart players over there. I personally know Mitch [Creek] and Alan [Williams] – they’re really talented, really smart guys. They’ve got a lot of hungry, young guys as well, so we’ve got to be ready to match their energy and they’re playing at home so it’s going to be tough, but we’ll be ready for it.” – Shannon Scott on Phoenix