Brisbane Bullets smash undermanned 36ers in NBL

The Brisbane Bullets have bounced back emphatically from last week's horror show in Perth, cruising to a clinical 102-83 NBL win over the Adelaide 36ers.

Casey Prather scored 22 of his game-high 33 points (at 82 per cent) before halftime at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday night.

Tyrell Harrison posted 19 points at 80 per cent and 18 rebounds in a superb return for the Bullets after missing last week's 28-point loss to the Wildcats through illness, and Mitch Norton scored 17 points.

Isaac Humphries top-scored with 16 points for the depleted Sixers, who, without their three best players - imports Kendric Davis and Montrezl Harrell (both suspended) and captain Dejan Vasiljevic (hamstring injury) - predictably crashed to their third successive defeat and out of the top six.

"Full credit to Adelaide, we know they've unfortunately got people out and you're trying to figure things out," Brisbane coach Justin Schueller said.

"I thought they battled really well.

"We knew the longer we sustained pressure, it probably goes our way."

Prather hit his first nine shots and Harrison his first five to set the Bullets quickly on their way.

The pair combined for the first 27 points scored by the hosts, who rode a 12-2 launch-pad to a 34-24 quarter-time lead.

Adelaide's rebounding and defence left a lot to be desired as Brisbane's buffer stretched to 13 points, before the Sixers recovered to finish the second term strongly.

Humphries, monstered inside early by Harrison, became more active, while Jason Cadee flourished off the bench.

The veteran guard finished the half by picking off James Batemon's inbound pass and draining a three.

Unsung duo Nick Marshall and Keanu Rasmussen kept the 36ers within touching distance, before Norton and Prather combined to break the game open again and push the Bullets clear by 15 points.

Adelaide responded by outscoring Brisbane 10-2 either side of three-quarter-time, reducing the margin to seven points, before the Bullets called a time-out and duly went on an 11-0 run of their own to put the contest out of reach.

"Obviously you want to have a different result but our young guys have been put into a tough situation," 36ers coach Mike Wells said.

"You're missing your three primary offensive people and 60 points out of your line-up, so you're trying to manufacture the offence a different way.

"Super proud of the young guys."