Tip-off: Sunday, January 29, 6.30pm (local), Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre

TV: ONE 10.30pm (check local guides)

Last time they met: Cairns 87 (Wilson 23, Loughton 20, Warren 15) d Gold Coast 78 (DeLeon 17, Worthington 17, Petrie 11), Round 9, 2011/12, Cairns Convention Centre

From road worriers to warriors
The Taipans won just six away games the past two seasons, but this year have won five from 10 to be the iiNet NBL’s third best road team.

With six of their last nine games at the Cairns Convention Centre, a win on the Gold Coast this Sunday could be a major step towards securing a playoff berth.

A major reason for the turnaround has been imports Jamar Wilson and Drew Warren, who are the league’s best-performing backcourt away from their home court, combining for 32.3 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.

Just as impressive is their ability to hit big shots down the stretch, something Blaze guard Adam Gibson is well aware of.

Legless?
“My focus with Warren will be to try and deny him the ball and make every catch hard,” Gibson said.

“Hopefully that will tire him out and he won’t have his legs to shoot those last-quarter shots.”

Warren has been rock solid on defence too, but the 188cm Gibson has a speed and strength mismatch he will look to exploit by “pushing the ball” and attacking the rim “off pin-down (screens)”.

“I need to be more aggressive to make him play D at the other end,” he said.

The Taipans have won both match-ups this season, meaning another victory will wrap up the season series and give them an edge in the race for fourth place.

Economy
Gibson noted balance is required between playing at a speed the Taipans don’t like and remaining in control.

“We’ve worked really hard the past three weeks at pushing it in transition, but if we haven’t got anything pulling it out and running offence,” he said.

“We’re a lot better at it, we’re not turning the ball over as much and we’re getting through the offence. That’s going to be crucial against the Taipans.”

With swingmen James Harvey and Chris Goulding injured, coach Joey Wright has used either strongmen Mark Worthington and Anthony Petrie in the small forward position, or the undersized Gibson when he elects for a small line-up.

“The good thing for me is I have been with Joey for a long time and I know his offence inside-out. So when Wortho or Peach come into the three-spot I know what works for those guys and vise-versa when we are smaller,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of options in our offence where we can target one player, so whoever’s got a mismatch we know what to run.”

The wrap
The Blaze have looked more controlled since injuries forced them to reduce their rotations and play bigger in the forward spots.

Cairns’ 210cm centre Ian Crosswhite and 206cm power forward Alex Loughton both have a height advantage, but Worthington and Petrie are among the best defensive forwards in the competition.

Last time the teams met, the disciplined Taipans defence forced Gold Coast into one-on-one offence in the second half. Import point guard Adris DeLeon was the main offender, shooting 6-of-22 from the field and dishing off just two assists.

DeLeon now appears more comfortable in a pinch-hitter’s role with Gibson taking greater command, so expect the Blaze to exploit their forwards’ mismatches on a regular basis.

Having won two in a row to be within a game of fourth-placed Cairns, expect a committed Blaze performance against a very difficult opponent.

“We haven’t talked too much about it, right now we are more focused on … making sure the defence is switched on,” Gibson said.

“But we realise this is must-win.”

Prediction: Blaze by 2