Million-dollar man Jack McVeigh has turned it on in the second half as Cairns consigned Brisbane to the NBL wooden spoon with an 81-72 win over their rivals.
McVeigh scored 22 points and Mojave King posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Taipans at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday.
American import Andrew Andrews also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, as well as six rebounds.
The Bullets had 25 offensive rebounds to the visitors’ eight and and took 26 extra shots, but could not make it count.
The result means Brisbane (6-25) cannot catch second-from-bottom Cairns (9-22) over the last two rounds of the regular season.
Both Queensland sides have been ravaged by injuries this campaign and entered Sunday’s contest with eyes on a rare win.
The Taipans led by 11 points at quarter-time and seven at the main break, despite McVeigh being held to just five points in the first half.
He had 12 in the third period, but the margin was cut to four points by three-quarter time.
Jacob Holt made it two points with the first bucket of the final period but that was as close as Brisbane got in the last 10 minutes.
Terry Taylor had his best outing in Bullets colours with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Holt and Hunter Maldonado added 13 points each.
