Lamar Patterson stars as Bullets defeat Hawks 90 to 81
All the talk was about LaMelo Ball’s debut in the NBL, but it was Brisbane’s Lamar Patterson who stole the show with a dominant display for the Bullets.
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BRISBANE star Lamar Patterson crashed the LaMelo Ball welcome party with a match-winning final quarter blitz to hand the Bullets a 90-81 win over Illawarra at Wollongong on Sunday.
Patterson scored 10 of his 25 points inside the last four minutes in a closing masterclass to help Brisbane open their 2019-20 NBL season with a gritty road victory.
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The WIN Entertainment Centre was pumping with the high-profile and much-hyped Ball playing his first NBL game as part of the Next Stars program which is designed to give US young guns a springboard into the NBA draft.
Ball’s controversial father Lavar was in the 3677-strong crowd with NBA talent scouts also interested spectators.
Ball, 18, was very good for Illawarra with 12 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block while NBA veteran Aaron Brooks top-scored for the home side with 23 points to create an electric and hostile atmosphere.
But when the game was on the line, Patterson controlled the contest.
He purely and simply owned it to have 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals at the final buzzer.
A huge three-pointer, three free throws, two two-point buckets and an assist for a late Nathan Sobey alley-oop showcased the poise, class and cold-blooded finishing ability that made Patterson an All-NBL First team member last season.
“I just took my shots, just wanted to stay aggressive,’’ Patterson said.
“We’ve got a lot of good players so I knew the ball was going to come and I knew I was going to get open looks. We’ve got a lot of unselfish guys and it fell for me today.
“I was playing the five (centre) a little bit but whatever the team needs. We just want to win, that’s it.’’
Sobey had 17 points in his debut for Brisbane along with four rebounds and two assists while centre Matt Hodgson was strong inside with 14 points and five boards.
Guards Cam Gliddon (10 points, nine rebounds, two assists) and Jason Cadee (12 points, four rebounds, four assists) also played critical cameos for the Bullets who were wearing black bands on their singlets to honour the passing of Bullets foundation coach Bob Young.
Conceding 22 offensive rebounds is the stat that Brisbane will highlight in the build-up to this Friday night’s home game against Cairns at the QSNC.
It was a see-sawing affair for much of the day with Brisbane bursting out of the gates for an early 12-point lead before the Hawks cut the margin to a single point at the quarter-time.
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Despite Illawarra having all of the momentum in the second term, Brisbane held firm under pressure to maintain the one-point cushion at the main break. Brisbane outscored Illawarra 22-14 in the third quarter which proved to be the difference.
After Brisbane opened up an 11-point buffer early in the fourth quarter, the Hawks scored the next seven points to set up a thrilling finish.
And that’s when Patterson went up a gear and put a dagger through the hearts of the Hawks.
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