Bryce Cotton looks at short odds to claim a fourth MVP crown while his Perth side firm as title contenders after the Wildcats' 108-102 NBL win over the New Zealand Breakers.
The Wildcats were up against a Breakers team at Spark Arena in Auckland having won four straight to be in their best patch of form of the season, and then conceded 35 points in the opening quarter.
The 'Cats worked their way on top from there and outscored the Breakers 55-44 in the second half for the six-point win to remain second at 12-7.
Cotton was once again brilliant for Perth.
New Zealand just couldn’t avoid fouling him whether the three-time champion was shooting a jumper or going to the rack.
He finished with 31 points on 16-of-17 free-throw shooting.
Keanu Pinder was impressive with his rim protection with 18 points as Perth won without Next Star Alex Sarr.
Kiwi pair Tai Webster (11 points, seven rebounds, two steals) and Hyrum Harris (11 points, eight boards) were important too with captain Jesse Wagstaff adding 11 points and Kristian Doolittle 11 along with six rebounds and five assists.
Wildcats coach John Rillie liked how his team took care of the little things that contribute to winning.
"We talked about rebounding at half-time and we ended up winning the count by 13 in the end and it's about doing those sort of things, and respecting that end of the floor so we can get out and play some offence," he said.
It was an offensive onslaught from the Breakers in the opening quarter with 35 points and a 12-2 run to lead by 11 but the Wildcats were staying in the contest by getting to the foul line.
Despite only shooting 37 per cent from the field in the first half, they made all 16 free-throws to limit the New Zealand lead to 58-53.
Harris sparked the 'Cats with seven quick points to start the second half and then Cotton took charge.
He put up 15 points in the third quarter alone with nine of them coming at the charity stripe.
Perth scored 34-19 in the third quarter on the back of that to open up a 12-point lead, and went on with the job to lead by as much as 18.
The Wildcats made their first 33 free-throws of the game. Even when Doolittle missed late, he got an offensive rebound and then made the next two for them to go 35-of-39.
New Zealand are now 8-10 with the loss.
Anthony Lamb delivered 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Zylan Cheatham 25 points and six boards.
Breakers coach Mody Maor hopes his team learned some lessons ahead of hosting the league-leading Melbourne United on Friday.
"For big parts of the game today, we didn’t do the small things that are very important to winning and when you play against the best in the competition, and you don't do those things, your chances to win are very small," he said.
