Gutsy Bullets snap Melb United NBL hoodoo

Brisbane have pulled off their gutsiest win of the NBL season, a 122-114 upset defeat of Melbourne United that snaps a 12-game losing streak against the ladder leaders.

The Bullets stuck with the championship favourites from the jump of an offence-focused game at John Cain Arena, despite missing the injured Josh Bannan, Deng Adel, Sam McDaniel and Jarred Bairstow.

After their third win from four games, Brisbane captain Mitch Norton felt the result could "for sure" springboard the Bullets to a successful end to the season.

"The more games we play together, we're going to grow and learn and continue to get better," the guard said.

The lead changed a staggering 32 times on Sunday afternoon, neither side ahead by double digits at any point.

But when red-hot American imports Keandre Cook (27 points, five assists) and Casey Prather (27 points, seven rebounds) scored back-to-back three-pointers in the final five minutes, the Bullets had a seven-point advantage and never again trailed.

Brisbane had last defeated United in March 2021, so long ago that only one player from the win (Tyrell Harrison) remains on the books. The club has had five different coaches since then.

"We knew we hadn't won in this building for a very long time," said Bullets coach Justin Schueller.

"We know how hard it is to win in this arena.

"We experienced it against South East earlier in the year and we spoke about what we were like that day and how we just hung tough together and didn't worry about had happened, kept going to what's next.

"Huge pride in the group but I don't want this to be our defining moment of the season. This is just another step forward for us."

A stellar afternoon of shooting meant even the league's heavyweights struggled to contain the Bullets, who landed 50 per cent of their 24 attempts from deep.

James Batemon and Harrison (both 25 points) got in on the action as the five starters combined for all but seven of Brisbane's points.

United have never before conceded as many points on their home floor as they did on Sunday - a statistic that would have frustrated Dean Vickerman after a defensively strong start to the season.

"Credit to them, the way they played, the way they shot it," the United coach said.

The loss snaps United's five-game winning streak, with the side expected to be without Chris Goulding for two more games.

"It was always the open air game (on December 23) that we've targeted," Vickerman said when asked for an update on his star player's return from a calf injury.

Touted for his NBA potential, teenaged Bullets big man Rocco Zikarsky received a technical foul for slamming the ball into the ground in frustration after a Brisbane foul in the third quarter.

Schueller and Vickerman were also tech-fouled, for badgering the match officials, earlier in the game.