Rd 7 Preview | JackJumpers @ Phoenix

Plenty of the best Tasmania JackJumpers performances in their history have come with things stacked against them and that does appear the case again heading into Sunday's clash with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The JackJumpers are backing up playing in Launceston on Friday night in a tight loss to the Sydney Kings ahead of now playing the Phoenix on Sunday at John Cain Arena with the game tipping off at 3pm.

Not only did the JackJumpers play at the Silverdome on Friday night, but Sydney overran them with a 12-2 run to close out the game to turn a seven-point lead into the eventual three-point defeat.

That saw Tasmania now sit on a 6-3 record on the season and to concede top spot to the Kings in the process, but it proved a tough night on the personnel front too.

With the JackJumpers still without Majok Deng, Ben Ayre and Bryce Hamilton, Ben Gold battled through a foot injury that now looks as though it will sideline him and David Johnson suffered a calf injury.

That means that Tasmania will now play South East Melbourne on Sunday in Melbourne without five full rostered players.

Not only that, but the JackJumpers have a quick turnaround from playing on Friday night to playing the early game on Sunday while coming up against a Phoenix opponent who haven’t played since beating the Adelaide 36ers last Saturday night also in Melbourne.

Coach Scott Roth knows that whoever is out there in a JackJumpers uniform will put up a strong fight though.

"The biggest thing is obviously just to recover after this game and we're lucky that it's a very short flight over there, and we'll have all day to rest and then get ready to do the best we can over there," Roth said.

"I'm sure they're going to be flying around and excited to go play, and we'll have to be smart in how we attack that game, and we'll get to that tomorrow."

Roth also knows that there's no point worrying about those players now out and while he might like to shake his head at the bad luck, all him and everyone else part of the team can do is focus on the next job at hand.

"David's got a calf injury, which I'm sure is going to be quite a while and Ben Gold's down too also. He's been dealing with a foot problem for the last 10 days so I wouldn't expect to see him for quite a while also," Roth said.

"You definitely shake your head at it and hopefully this is very early for us and some of these will recover but it is what it is at this point.

"You've just got to deal with it and other teams are dealing with it in a different way, and you have to figure out what's going to be best moving forward with your style of play, rotations and everything else. So we'll try to figure it out as we go here."

South East Melbourne come into Sunday's game with a 4-5 record now and having won their past two matches against the Cairns Taipans and Adelaide 36ers by a combined 46 points.

The two teams also played back in the opening round of the season with the JackJumpers winning a tight one 96-91 at MyState Bank Arena.

On that occasion, Johnson had 26 points, six rebounds and six assists for the JackJumpers, Taran Armstrong 19 points and three assists, Dakota Mathias 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Will Magnay 14 points, six assists and four boards.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2026/27 | ROUND 7

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS v South East Melbourne Phoenix

John Cain Arena, Sunday November 1, 3:00pm

Watch live on ESPN via Disney+, Foxtel, Kayo or Fetch