Chastened Hawks prevail as restocked Bullets fire

Murray Wenzel | December 11, 2025

Another heavyweight JaVale McGee performance has steered Illawarra out of trouble as a reinforced Brisbane briefly threatened to breath life into their NBL season.

Three-time NBA champion McGee (30 points, 10 rebounds) notched his 13th double-double from 16 NBL games as the Hawks beat the Bullets 100-85 at home on Thursday night.

A last-start loss to Cairns prompted Hawks coach Justin Tatum to flick the switch in “brutal” training sessions this week and McGee said the “message was received”.

“We deserved it,” McGee, who won Olympic gold with the United States in Tokyo, said.

“We know what happens when we lose and we don’t want any smoke with coach.”

McGee’s only once had less than nine rebounds in a game and has notched five scores of at least 28 points in his much-hyped NBL arrival.

“Statistically, cool. But there’s a lot of L’s under my name,” the 37-year-old said of his form in a stuttering team.

“If we win it this year it’ll mean something (but if not) it’s just empty stats.”

The Hawks looked to McGee as the margin blew out in the final two minutes, after the visitors had led by 14 points in the second quarter and then kept it within a basket for a majority of the second half.

But the Bullets didn’t make a second-half triple and were outscored 23-7 in the last five minutes, coach Stu Lash critical of his side’s rebounding and execution.

“We’re last in the league in rebounding; it’s not just the Hawks but QJ Peterson’s grabbing rebounds and he’s the smallest guy on the floor,” a frustrated Lash said.

“Put a body on somebody, hit someone, get physical. We’re not doing that, we’re sitting around and watching.”

It was the battling Hawks’ (6-10) second win from their last six starts and a fifth-straight loss for the Bullets (5-12), coinciding with the season-ending injury to star Casey Prather.

“I love these guys. We’re feeling it (but) we’re together as a group, culturally intact. We need to be better,” Lash said.

The Bullets had mustered just 65 and 76 points in their last two games but had a season-high 33 at quarter-time. 

Import forward Terry Taylor (18 points, eight rebounds) showed up in his second game at the club and guard Javon Freeman-Liberty (13 points, two assists) impressed in his return to the program, having departed for the United States earlier in the season on mental health grounds.

There will likely be more injury concern though, with fellow import Dakota Mathias leaving the court with a shoulder injury in the first half.

He had 11 points in 13 minutes and the Bullets missed the sharp-shooter as McGee’s presence in the paint slowly took its toll.

Tyrell Harrison (13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, two blocks) worked hard around the rim for the Bullets but Will Hickey (18 points, eight assists), Peterson (19 points, five rebounds, eight assists) and Tyler Harvey (17 points) stepped up to guide the defending champions home.