Basketball: Taylor sets Leopards key play-off target

Mike Taylor's belief that he can coach Essex Leopards into the BBL Championship play-off quarter-finals in his first season will be put to the test with games at London Towers tonight and against Brighton Bears at Brentwood tomorrow.

Leopards are eighth, holding off Milton Keynes Lions and Birmingham Bullets, and Taylor said: "We like where we stand, but we want to give ourselves a cushion and not have it come down to tie-breakers or a head-to-head count."

Towers and Brighton will be equally focussed. Towers are trying to overhaul fourth-placed Newcastle Eagles to claim home advantage, while the second-placed Bears have the leaders Sheffield Sharks back in range.

Problems for Milton Keynes and Birmingham are helping Leopards. The guard Joel Burns, one of Lions' highest percentage shooters, will miss the rest of the season after having his appendix removed. For the Bullets,Eugene Baah was sacked earlier in the week after a row with the owner, Craig Bown, while Rob Paternostro and Sullivan Phillips are injured.