Bryce Cotton has shone once again but his supporting cast was on fire too as the Perth Wildcats made it five consecutive wins with an emphatic 118-86 victory against the Brisbane Bullets.
Both teams were coming into Friday night's match at Perth's RAC Arena on four-game NBL winning streaks, but it didn’t take long for the Wildcats to stamp their authority.
Both teams were missing key players with Perth minus Next Star Alex Sarr and crucial forward Kristian Doolittle, while Brisbane arrived without their own teen sensation Rocco Zikarsky and three-time champion Casey Prather.
It was the 'Cats who adapted the better, racing to an 18-7 start, with superstar Cotton closing the opening period with a buzzer-beater to make it 31-13.
The Perth lead ballooned to 47-18 by halfway through the second quarter and they still led 57-38 going into the half with Cotton having 17 points without even making a three-pointer.
The Wildcats were unstoppable, shooting 60 per cent from the floor to 32 from the Bullets. That continued even though Brisbane started the second half encouragingly with a 12-4 run.
It wouldn’t last, though, as Cotton hit his first pair of threes for the game with 11 points for the period.
The Wildcats have now won five straight to improve to a 14-7 record to be hot on the heels of Melbourne United (16-6) in second spot on the back of shooting 61 per cent for the night.
Cotton had another 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds on his way to a fourth MVP crown.
He had plenty of help with Tai Webster's 20 points and six assists, and 15 points from Keanu Pinder, 11 from Jordan Usher, 10 from Michael Harris, nine from David Okwera and eight late from Corey Webster.
Wildcats coach John Rillie is playing down his team's hot form ahead of Sunday's trip to Sydney.
"We're trending in a good direction and you saw some nice play, but our defence allowed us to play offence the way we did," he said.
"It was a great performance but we can't rest for too long, we've got to go on the road and get another win."
Brisbane's four-game winning run ended with them now 11-12 ahead of a road game to Cairns on Sunday.
It was a rough night for the Bullets with Tyrell Harrison a shining light inside with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Chris Smith added 15 points and Sam McDaniel 12 but shooting 35 per cent made life tough even with 37 free-throw attempts.
Bullets coach Justin Schueller felt his defence never gave his team a chance to compete.
"They smacked us in the mouth straight away and I don't think we knew how to respond in that moment," he said.
"We let poor offence dictate poor defence for us. To allow them 118 - pretty much 30 points each quarter - that's where it starts for us and it's a really disappointing night."
