Mike Wells is not messing around.
The 36ers coach believes the MVP race is “over” after another brilliant performance by superstar Bryce Cotton lifted Adelaide to a stunning win on Valentine’s Day.
DJ Vasiljevic also caught fire in the second half on Saturday as the Sixers came from behind to break New Zealand Breakers’ hearts in a 92-89 win.
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Cotton hit a breathtaking game-high 42 points, including a clutch three-pointer that iced the game, as his side threw off an out-of-sorts display to hit the front for the first time with two minutes remaining and go on to secure an important win.
It prompted Wells to declare in his post-game press conference that the “MVP race is over”.
“It’s over. If it’s not over tonight, then tell me what the definition is,” he said.
“He played 40 minutes, scored 42 points, guarded the other team’s best player, did everything. Most valuable player to his team. This thing is over.
“If you’re not voting for Bryce Cotton, who has been the best player in this league since the day he got here, I want to know why. I want to see the votes. It’s not even close. The MVP race is over today.”
Wells’ comments came after Wildcats coach John Rillie set the stage for an epic battle between two other MVP contenders in Kristian Doolittle and Kendric Davis.
Perth and Sydney play on Sunday, with Rillie declaring Doolittle can stop the Kings’ dynamic guard and in the process press his claims for the MVP honour.
“What I’m really looking forward to is they have a player that there’s a lot of speculation around being an MVP,” Rillie said.
“I have a guy in that change room that I think is pretty good defensively, so let’s go and see what happens.”
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The 36ers were second on the table with a 22-9 record going into their last game of the regular season at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and needed a win to guarantee a top-three finish and a home final for the first time at the venue.
With so much on the line, they trailed by double digits at every change, with the visitors leading by as much as 18.
The home side trailed by 11 points going into the final term, but Vasiljevic was fouled as he drained a three-pointer and made his free throw to slice the margin to seven points, with a Cotton triple making it a four-point game with six minutes remaining.
A Zylan Cheatham bucket had home fans at fever pitch, and when Cotton hit three free throws scores were level with three-and-a-half minutes to play.
The surging Sixers hit the front for the first time when Vasiljevic found the target with two minutes remaining and went on to seal a memorable win with a 33-18 last quarter.
SLOPPY START
Adelaide shot 0-from-3 from the floor to start the clash, while the slick Breakers hit their first three attempts to race to a 7-0 lead that had Mike Wells calling for a timeout.
The coach’s advice didn’t immediately help as the Sixers slipped to a 9-0 deficit on 0-from-5 shooting, before a Cotton triple opened the home side’s account.
Cotton’s opener sparked him into action, but his teammates didn’t fire up with him.
The superstar had 10 of his side’s 16 points at the first break, with Isaac Humphries, Nick Rakocevic and Cheatham the only other Sixers to hit the scoreboard in the first quarter as the visitors stormed to a 29-16 lead.
100 UP FOR BRYCE
New Zealand led by 15 points two minutes into the second quarter before Cotton drained his 100th three-pointer of the season, with his century coming on 39 per cent shooting.
But shooting from outside the arc was a huge problem for Adelaide in the first half.
The Sixers were shooting at just 16 per cent from long range (3-from-18) with a minute left until halftime before Vasiljevic scored his first points of the night with a triple.
The Breakers shot 4-from-8 from three-point land, but they were doing more damage in the paint, with Petteri Koponen’s side shooting at 61 per cent from the floor in the first half to Adelaide’s 39 per cent.
Cotton was the only 36er in double figures with a game-high 19 points, with starters Flynn Cameron and John Jenkins failing to hit the scoreboard in the first half.
A thunderous two-handed jam from Izaiah Brockington was a highlight to go with his 10 first-half points, with Parker Jackson-Cartwright leading the way with a team-high 14 as New Zealand led by as much as 18 points before settling for an 11-point half-time lead.
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