Bryce Cotton took charge in the first half and Keanu Pinder exploded in the second as the Perth Wildcats opened the new season in spectacular fashion by beating the South East Melbourne Phoenix 106-98.
HoopsFest is opening the new NBL season in Perth and it was a packed RAC Arena on Friday night that cheered their hometown team to victory against the new-look Phoenix.
There was a three-point barrage to close the first quarter from the Wildcats, started with three straight on consecutive possessions from four-time MVP Cotton.
Cotton converted a four-point play just before the halftime break to give him 17 points at the interval with Perth leading 53-44 on the back of hitting 10-of-26 from downtown opposed to 2-of-13 from South East Melbourne.
The Phoenix scored 10 straight points to get it back to a point early in the third quarter, but Pinder then took over the contest.
He scored the game's next 10 points on his own, including two three-balls before a monstrous dunk to the delight of the local fans.
Cotton then hit two more threes late in the third term as the lead grew to 18 and from there the 'Cats cruised to their season-opening eight-point win.
Pinder had a night out with 4-of-8 three-point shooting on his way to 29 points, six rebounds and three steals while Cotton had 26 points, four boards and four assists.
They had plenty of support, too, with Kristian Doolittle adding nine points and 13 rebounds, Ben Henshall 10 points and seven assists and Next Star Izan Almansa 10 points.
Wildcats coach John Rillie saw a lot to like especially to take advantage from three-point range.
"You can see that we've got some dynamic players who can get to some good spots on the floor, and the way I like to play basketball is to share the ball," he said.
"We've got a very unselfish team and that's reflected in our assist to turnover ratio (24-9), and that leads to good shots."
It was a rough start for South East Melbourne but Jordan Hunter had 19 points and seven rebounds with Matt Hurt contributing 16 points and 12 boards, and gun recruit Nathan Sobey 13 points offset by five turnovers.
Giving up 15 offensive rebounds to Perth and the eight three-pointers to Cotton were the two areas that most frustrated Phoenix coach Mike Kelly.
"Really, it was the rebounding, we gave them too many offensive rebounds and they obviously hit a bunch of threes," he said.
HoopsFest in Perth continues with a double-header on Saturday, with Brisbane playing New Zealand ahead of Cairns taking on Illawarra. It wraps up on Sunday with Sydney against Adelaide.
