Bryce Cotton didn’t disappoint in his first game in Adelaide colours against his old side, the Perth Wildcats on Sunday.
The five-time NBL MVP topscored with 23 points, including seven from beyond the three-point line. He also had seven assists.
But it wasn’t enough to get the 36ers over the line at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
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Perth was disciplined in defence against its old champ, picking up a thrilling 94-87 win on the road.
New Wildcats recruit David Duke Jnr started on Cotton and coach John Rillie sent plenty of teammates to help him.
Collectively they kept the star away from the free throw line for the entire game, something no team has been able to do in 25 games.
Focus on Bryce
Cotton took some time to get going. Against the side he won three championships with, he had just three points at quarter-time and nine at halftime.
That entire score was from three pointers, when long shots were not falling for anyone else on the court.
At the break, the 36ers had made just four of 14 attempts. But that was better than Perth’s two from 14.
The long shots started to drop after halftime. Adelaide finished with 12 from 32 shots.
Perth ended up making nine from 30 attempts.
Cotton’s third three-pointer was his 800th in the NBL.
Third fastest in NBL to get there. Took his 267 games, with Shane Heal doing it in his 224th appearance.
Two talls almost enough
While it took Cotton some time to getting going, the 36ers played two talls, which allowed the scoreboard to tick over.
Isaac Humphries and Nick Rakocevic caused Perth some troubles on offence.
The pair combined for 28 points and 16 rebounds.
Rakocevic had his highest season return with 15 points.
Dajan Vasiljevic (13 points) and Isaac White (15) also made it to double figures
But the boards hurt
The 36ers weren’t getting an advantage on the board early with the two big men doing well.
Adelaide has won the rebounding contest just three times this season.
They lost it 47-39 on Sunday.
The Wildcats are hard to beat when allowed to pull in offensive boards and they had 16 on Sunday.
They averaged 11 per game and more than 12 in wins before Sunday.
Had 13 at halftime to Adelaide’s five. Rebounds were all Perth’s way, 27-14.
Dylan Winder had seven boards on his own.
Windler was the difference, with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Hawks travel to beat Taipans in Cairns | 01:03
KINGS SURVIVE MAJOR SCARE
Sydney has survived a major scare to move into a positive record for the first time this NBL season.
Trailing for over 32 minutes of their clash with New Zealand, the Kings were able to launch in the fourth quarter on the back of a pair of special plays from the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.
Shooting just 1-10 from the field midway through the third term, Kouat Noi hit two massive triples to get Sydney back to level and then in front for the first time since the opening minute of the game, bringing the 10,067 fans at Qudos Bank Arena to their feet.
For most of the afternoon both sides had major troubles scoring the basketball, with 39 combined turnovers making for a less than optimum spectacle.
Still, it was the Kings that held their nerve in the fourth, never surrendering the lead once they hit the front to run out 79-72 victors.
Kendric Davis and Xavier Cooks led the way with 21 points apiece, while Parker Jackson-Cartwright was New Zealand’s main strike weapon with 23 points and seven assists.
The win improves the Kings to 6-5 for the season, a crucial win with their next five games on the road.
BARBECUE CHICKEN ALERT
To say Sam Mennenga dominated the early exchanges with opposite big Tim Soares is an understatement.
The Kiwi international got whatever he wanted on the inside as his guards allowed him to feast, dropping seven points in the blink of an eye.
Brian Goorjian was forced to go to his bench less than five minutes into the contest, bringing in Hunter Goodrick for some rare first quarter minutes.
Seven turnovers and an abysmal 27 per cent from the field saw them trail 25-17 through one quarter.
KINGS FIND AN ANSWER
Things looked like they’d get out of hand to open the second term as the Breakers raced out to a 13-point advantage.
To Sydney’s credit they were able to get back in the game on the back of an 8-0 run, picking up the pace and taking much better care of the ball.
They tied it up late in the piece, before an insane Parker Jackson-Cartwright triple edged the visitors ahead by two at the main break, making it seven of the last eight games that the Breakers have led at halftime.
LET HIM COOK
An offensive struggle played out through three quarters, as New Zealand clung to a 54-52 lead with one to play.
With Sydney needing a spark, Xavier Cooks took the task personally and was much more aggressive on the inside, dropping six points and five rebounds for the term mixed in with some brickwall defence.
Jackson-Cartwright was again the man to keep the Breakers’ noses in front with a steal and free throws in the closing seconds.
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