Game Preview: Taipans v JackJumpers

Cairns will fly into Hobart to face a refreshed side that has waited a week since their last battle. Missing both Will Magnay and Sean MacDonald from their final game of the season, they'll host a Taipans lineup without Rob Edwards.

Where and When

Saturday, February 8 at MyState Bank Arena, Hobart (4:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Their Last Battle: Cairns Taipans (90) v Tasmania JackJumpers (99) in Round 11

Hitting the court less than 48 hours after officially eliminating the Bullets from the post season, the Taipans will have the chance to end the chance of Tasmania going for back-to-back championships.

Currently sitting in seventh place – one spot outside of play-in contention – even a win won’t guarantee their rise to sixth, with the JackJumpers needing to take down Cairns by 80+ points to secure a play-in position.

In their first Round 20 clash, the Taipans shot out to an early lead by draining their shots – going five of six from deep in the first term, including a perfect three of three for Tanner Groves – to hold the advantage despite taking less shots than their Queensland rivals.

Retaining the lead for the entire night except for a two-minute window in the third term, Cairns were able to keep pushing the pace whilst the undermanned Bullets struggled to match them, leading to the Taipans sealing the game in the final quarter.

It was a similar story to the last time that Tasmania and Cairns met, with the JackJumpers holding the upper hand on their home court whilst the Taipans fought to catch up with Taran Armstrong leading the charge with 29 points to his name.

Whilst Cairns leaned on their starters throughout the night – including Pedro Bradshaw in his first game back from injury – Tasmania utilised their bench to consistently put points on the board, with the former Taipan duo of Majok Deng and Fabijan Krslovic scoring 17 and 7 points respectively, 

Earning a starting spot since their last battle, Krslovic has averaged just under seven points, six boards and two assists in 20 minutes of action this year – including a 10 rebound and six assist performance in Round 7 – however has struggled with his exterior shooting, going two of 16 since January 7. 

With their Round 11 win over Cairns coming in the middle of an 8-0 run to close out the year – which looked to set them up well for the post-season – Tasmania has struggled in 2025 to go 1-8 and will face a side that is 5-4 and who has taken down the ladder leaders twice in that timeframe.

Player to Watch

Fresh off his triple-double performance on Thursday night – the first across the league this season, the first of his career and the first for the club – Taran Armstrong will be looking to continue his fine form into the final game of their campaign. Without running mate Rob Edwards in action during Round 20, the 23-year-old combined with Sam Waardenburg to create an unguardable combo that wreaked havoc on the Bullets.

Putting up 36 points, with nine boards and seven assists between them across the second half, Armstrong was able to feed the forward who didn’t miss a shot inside the arc and will be looking to setup his teammates in his home state. Last putting up 29 points in Hobart, the guard will also be set to continuing his scoring streak into the final game of the season.

WE HAVE LIFT-OFF 🚀

Sam rises up off repeated feeds from Taran 😮‍💨

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/ZmtWIhSTaC

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) February 6, 2025

What's Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

“This is just a snapshot of what he’s been capable of doing all season. Random little injuries have not just derailed Taran’s season but a few other guys as well, and so it’s really cool seeing again what Taran’s capable of.

“There are a lot of guys that like to talk about being in the gym, and they’ll post it, and they’ll talk about it and how they work hard, but they don’t do that – they’ll only say it. Taran does it, he doesn’t hype it up and he just chips away at it as it is a daily process."

Taipans guard Taran Armstrong:

“I have a lot of tickets for the game, and I’ll have a lot of people there, but I love playing down there and it’ll be another good game. I’m not sure if they’re in contention, but either way we get to play basketball, and playing basketball at home in front of people who I love is really cool.

“I thought I just played the same way without Rob – I felt like Waardenburg and I had a good thing going, and I was quite deliberate with him to get him into actions. We scored off it one time, and went ‘alright, we’re doing the same thing the next three times’, and they were having trouble guarding it.”

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Taran Armstrong / Kyle Adnam

SG – Pedro Bradshaw / Jonah Antonio

SF – Alex Higgins-Tisha / AK Gak / Kody Stattmann

PF – Sam Waardenburg / Kyrin Galloway

C – Tanner Groves / Dillon Stith

JackJumpers

PG – Jordan Crawford / Brody Nunn

SG – Milton Doyle / Craig Sword / Nick Stoddart

SF – Clint Steindl / Anthony Drmic / Walter Brown

PF – Fabijan Krslovic / Reuben Te Rangi / Ian Hummer

C – Gorjok Gak / Majok Deng / Archie Woodhill

Ins and Outs 

Taipans

Ins – Alex Higgins-Titsha, Kody Stattmann

JackJumpers

Ins – Ian Hummer, Brody Nunn, Nick Stoddart, Archie Woodhill

Outs – Will Magnay (toe), Sean MacDonald (foot)