The Brisbane Bullets have continued their late-season kind surge after a commanding second half drove them to a 103-86 win over the Illawarra Hawks.
Sixth man Tyler Johnson top-scored with 23 factors on the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday, 15 of them coming within the final 14 minutes, to steer the resurgent Bullets to a 3rd successive win.
Rival import guard Tyler Harvey scored 22 factors for the Hawks, who have been outscored 23-19 and 30-19 throughout the ultimate two quarters after being just about neck-and-neck at halftime.
The rubber could have been useless, these two bottom-ranked groups lengthy out of finals rivalry, however the tempo was sizzling, particularly within the first half.
American ahead Andrew White III hit his first six pictures and Aron Baynes was energetic early because the Bullets made a deal with feeding their frontcourt to maneuver forward 24-20 at quartertime.
Despite having points overlaying Brisbane’s pick-and-roll, the Hawks stored the scoreboard ticking on the different finish from the perimeter because the second time period comprised a number of lead modifications.
Harvey, Illawarra’s last-second hero in Auckland on Thursday, continued his deadly kind from outdoors with 16 first-half factors, whereas Deng Deng fired 10 factors inside 4 minutes earlier than the lengthy break to provide the Hawks a slim lead.
Baynes underpinned a 14-2 run both aspect of halftime to place the Bullets again in entrance and so they have been by no means once more headed.
Harvey immediately discovered the going robust within the face of the immense bodily strain Brisbane utilized on him.
Meanwhile on the different finish, former NBA guard Johnson acquired red-hot and, with some assist from massive Harry Froling, piloted the Bullets’ highly effective second half.
