The ladder-leading Adelaide 36ers opened their Christmas presents early, Bryce Cotton and Nick Rakocevic combining to propel the Sixers to a convincing 20-point win against the Cairns Taipans on Christmas Eve.
It was the top-ranked 36ers versus the 10th-placed Taipans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night, but the past two games between these teams in Adelaide were hard-fought affairs that went to overtime.
Cairns pushed the home side hard early, but the Sixers led by eight points at three-quarter time and cruised to a clinical win that improved their record to 16-4 to strengthen their hold on top spot.
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Rakocevic enjoyed an NBL career-best 19 points and made it a double-double with 13 rebounds, Cotton led all scorers with 22 points and 11 assists, and DJ Vasiljevic got hot late to finish with 15 points.
COLD START
Nearly two minutes elapsed without a bucket from either team before Sam Waardenburg emphatically opened the scoring with a two-handed jam.
The Sixers were 1-of-5 from the floor in a cold start to the clash, while Waardenburg and the fired-up Taipans raced to an early 8-2 lead.
Troy Brown Jr was moved into the starting line-up, but the American import didn’t record a stat in any category in just over five minutes on the floor in any category in the first quarter.
Cotton had averaged 34 points per game in his last 10 appearances against Cairns, but was restricted to four in the opening term.
Rakocevic came off the bench and injected his trademark fire to spark the home side.
Back-to-back triples to Matt Kenyon and an 11-0 run gave Adelaide the lead for the first time with just over two minutes remaining, with the Sixers leading it 23-21 at the first break.
NOT SO FAST
Cotton hit his first three early in the second quarter as the 36ers hit their straps to lead by as much as 13 and threaten to take the game away.
But the visitors shook off an indifferent few minutes to put on a 9-2 late in the term, with Marcus Lee going up high for a monster dunk and Waardenburg continuing to lead the charge with a game-high 11 points at the half.
The home side led by eight points at the main break, but Brown continued to struggle to make an impact, the import scoreless in the first half after missing his lone three-point attempt.
Adelaide struggled to find top gear after the restart, managing just seven points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, as Cairns went on an 11-2 run.
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RAKOCEVIC RISES
Cotton was instrumental as Adelaide regained the momentum in the third quarter and Rakocevic continued to have an impact.
The fiery import made it an NBL career-best 16 points in emphatic fashion, rising high above Kyrin Galloway to throw down a thunderous one-handed dunk that had the crowd on its feet and his teammates hyped, with Adelaide leading 73-61 heading into the final term.
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