An undersized Brisbane have kept their NBL play-in hopes flickering, Tacko Fall and his New Zealand Breakers felled in a Christchurch boilover.
The Bullets defied the absence of towering pair Tyrell Harrison and Rocco Zikarsky on Friday, their small-ball unit picking apart the hosts 93-87 in what was a must-win game.
At 229cm, import Fall (12 points, five rebounds) was five-from-five from the field but didn't have the decisive impact the Breakers had hoped as they slumped to 9-17.
Granted an exemption, the Bullets signed Callum Dalton as an injury replacement for Harrison (concussion) just hours before he took the court in a five-minute stint.
"The amount of adversity this group's faced, and to just keep pushing through it (is incredible)," Brisbane coach Justin Schueller said.
"You talk about how we're not dead yet ... it could have easily been one of those you say, 'it's just too tough'.
"We got our swagger and our vibe back, just having bodies around."
Breakers coach Petteri Koponen lamented an off shooting night - they made just 19-of-30 free throws - and the inability to defend efficiently with Fall on the court.
"We had our moments and that's it, those small details in the end," he said.
"It's something we need to work on."
The result left the race to the NBL's finals play-in tournament wide open.
Victory momentarily drew the Bullets (11-15) level on wins with seventh-placed Adelaide, who then improved to 12-13 later on Friday night with a win against Sydney that lifted them to sixth on percentage ahead of Tasmania (12-13).
Brisbane will host Melbourne on Sunday, before a crunch date in Adelaide and a Cairns clash to complete their regular season.
The Breakers jumped to an immediate 10-point lead, but Keandre Cook (26 points, six assists) sank three triples to give the Bullets a two-point advantage at the first break.
He and Casey Prather (24 points, eight rebounds, four assists) then adjusted their radar, finding joy from mid-range as the Bullets found ways around their height disadvantage.
Breakers guards Parker Jackson-Cartwright (19 points, nine assists) and Matthew Mooney (24 points, four assists) kept things close, with the margin just three at the final break.
But Jackson-Cartwright (rib) checked out early in the final quarter, and Brisbane pair Tohi Smith-Milner and Josh Bannan (17 points, seven rebounds) made clutch plays to keep a buffer.
Mooney made both free-throws with 44 seconds left to make it a two-point game.
But Prather was ice-cool, catching the Breakers off-guard with a sharp pass to Smith-Milner, who made the tricky floater to reinstate the buffer.
Prather iced the contest with two free-throws as his injury-hit side stayed alive.
