Brisbane have ground out a 107-97 victory over the Gold Coast Blaze in their NBL match at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

The Bullets were challenged regularly by the visitors, but were able to hang on thanks to a strong team performance, headed by CJ Bruton who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.

For the Blaze, James Harvey stood tall with 22 points, including an impressive six three-pointers, and five rebounds, but was not able to lead his side to victory.

Both sides struggled for fluency early in the game before the Bullets were able to pull out to a seven-point lead at quarter time, 31-24, thanks to a late charge from Michael Hill.

The home side hit top gear early in the second quarter, posting 11-unanswered points to see their lead blow out to 18.

The visitors fought back hard though, at one point reclaiming the lead before they headed into halftime, trailing by just the one point, 47-46.

Brisbane established their dominance once again in the third period, coasting to a 17-point lead before the Blaze reduced the deficit back to 11 points (78-67) at the break.

The Gold Coast threatened to cause an upset in the last quarter, but the reigning-champion Bullets were able to turn the screws and complete the victory.

Brisbane coach Joey Wright was happy to escape with a win in a game that he thought was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.

"They were right there, if a couple of shots went either way it could have been a different ball game, I thought we controlled the tempo of the second half and that was important," he said.

Blaze coach Brendan Joyce lamented his side's inability to pull down key rebounds.

"I always thought we were in with a chance, but certainly they controlled the boards," Joyce said.

Joyce was particularly unhappy with the foul count (27-20 in Brisbane's favour).

"They get away with a fair bit (the Bullets), they got away with a hell of a lot."

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