The Brisbane Bullets have won their first National Basketball League title in 20 years, securing a 3-1 best-of-five grand final series win over defending champions Melbourne Tigers.

The Bullets beat the Tigers 103-94 at the State Netball Centre in game four to secure the championship after wins in games one and three in Brisbane.

Guard CJ Bruton, carrying a knee injury sustained in game three, was outstanding for the Bullets, scoring 22 points and feasting on seven assists.

The Bullets, who last won the NBL title in 1987, dominated the regular season and put together a 21-match winning streak which was only broken by the Tigers in game two of the grand final series.

Coach Joey Wright lauded his group of players for their effort in a remarkable season - capped off perfectly by their deserved win in game four.

The Tigers had no answer to Brisbane's brutal full court defensive pressure, which had threatened to suffocate their rivals all series - and eventually did on Friday night.

Brisbane built their victory on a huge third quarter performance, outscoring the Tigers 27-15 and forcing the usually reliable Melbourne offence into 12 turnovers for the term.

The Bullets took a nine-point lead to the final change with a Bruton three-pointer and three-point play to end the term.

Then two early fourth quarter Sam Mackinnon baskets blew the lead out to 11 and the Tigers were unable to bridge the gap despite having five players in double-figure scoring.

"We just kept waiting for our run, stayed close to them and felt when we got our run, if we created enough distance we'd be okay," Wright said.

"This group of guys is just something special - it hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm so happy for all of them right now.

"Every game someone's stepped up. These guys were ready to go, and they were easy to coach."

Mackinnon won the Larry Sengstock Medal for player of the grand final series.

Tigers coach Al Westover was magnanimous in defeat and said the Bullets deserved their win.

"We gave it our all, we weren't good enough," was his blunt assessment of his side's performance.

"The better team won. They deserved it, they've been the best team all year.

"We had a lot of turnovers, but that third quarter we got outscored 11-0 in three minutes.

"They made their run on us then and we didn't respond too well."

Rashad Tucker and Darryl McDonald top-scored for the Tigers with 17 points apiece, while Chris Anstey (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Dave Thomas (14 points, 11 rebounds) worked hard.

The Bullets head back to Brisbane on Saturday.

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