Another dominant performance from inspirational leader Mitch Creek has helped the shorthanded South East Melbourne Phoenix secure their fifth NBL win in the last six games with a 104-77 victory over Brisbane Bullets.
The Phoenix took a depleted squad to Brisbane's Nissan Arena on Wednesday night with injured pair Gary Browne (calf) and Ryan Broekhoff (hip) expected to miss two to three weeks, while Chinese centre Zhou Qi returned home for personal reasons.
The injury news appeared to get worse for the visitors when Alan Williams hobbled off in the second quarter after landing awkwardly following an attempted block on a Rasmus Bach drive to the basket.
But the Phoenix made 60 per cent of their field goals in the first half to build a 56-47 advantage by halftime then, with Williams able to return to the action, restricted Brisbane to 14 points in the third quarter to establish an unassailable 79-61 lead.
Creek showed no ill effects from logging over 47 minutes on court in last Sunday's double-overtime victory against Sydney to lead the Phoenix with 29 points, 20 of those coming in the first half, while Trey Kell III produced a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell labelled his side's performance as 'tremendously gutsy' and praised a number of his role players for making the most of their increased minutes.
"Creeky was great again but Kyle (Adnam) slips into that starting five very comfortably. I thought Junior Madut had some good minutes as well, Grant Anticevich when he had his moments came in and was very productive," Mitchell said after the Phoenix climbed to third on the ladder with a 12-7 record.
"(Owen Foxwell) was not as good as he was in the Sydney game, but he came in and provided some relief and some solid minutes. So, you know, everybody was sort of answering the bell and that's important for us."
The Bullets looked to get Aron Baynes involved from the outset, the former NBA big man banging his way to nine first-quarter points to help the home side edge ahead 22-20.
But Creek sparked the Phoenix in the second period as he opened up with a pair of jump shots then took charge of the offence when Williams limped off, the Phoenix piling on 36 points for the term to lead by nine at the main break.
Nathan Sobey continued his strong mid-season form with 31 points but received little support aside from Baynes and DJ Mitchell (14 points apiece) as the Bullets (4-12) slumped to their fifth loss in a row and remain stranded in ninth spot.
