Basketball On The Internet.

A 34-21 second quarter Taipans blitz amid some mystifying Brisbane rotations last night set the tone for Jack McVeigh to lead Cairns to another Queensland derby win while consigning the depleted Bullets to a head-scratching loss made worse by their inattention at the defensive end.

The Bullets led through much of the first quarter until Reyne Smith (20 points at 57 per cent) tied it at 21-21 and Jaylin Galloway gave Cairns the first quarter edge at 23-21.

From there the Taipans steadily slithered clear as Brisbane coach Will Weaver compounded his team's woes by having Tyrell Harrison, Nate Hinton, Jaylin Williams and Raul Neto all off at the same time.

Three imports and your main big man all off as Cairns made its run! It definitely was a hard decision to follow.

Worse still, Max Mackinnon was experiencing his first real stinker, going 1-of-7, 0-of-4 from range and with four turnovers in 16 untidy minutes before a slip and subsequent concussion protocols ruled him from further action.

Meanwhile Cairns rarely has looked better, Jaylon Brown (19 points, 5 assists) running the Snakes with authority, Malique Lewis (16 points) continuing to grow in his import role, Jonah Bolden wrestling down 13 rebounds to go with 7 points, 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

Smith was a constant scoring threat, the Galloway brothers more productive than their numbers implied, Keanu Pinder again hamstrung by foul issues as was McVeigh.

But Jack still compiled 23 points at 53 per cent, including five 3-pointers, a couple of rebounds and assists, plus three steals.

Not drawing much of consequence from anyone and clearly taking their defensive cues from Illawarra, Weaver eventually cleared his bench, Lat Mayen throwing down one of the more vicious dunks of the season to give fans something positive to talk about.

NBL Results Round 7, Thursday

Cairns Taipans 107 (J.McVeigh 23, Smith 20, Brown 19, Lewis 16; Bolden 13 rebs; Brown 5 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 85 (Murray 20, Hinton 14, Williams 12; Harrison, Hinton 6 rebs; Neto, Harrison 4 assts) at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.