THE first round of the National Basketball League (NBL) wrapped on Sunday night, with the weekend’s action closing with a commanding performance from last year’s grand finalists in their second match of the round. In the final match of the day, the Perth Wildcats overpowered the Cairns Taipans, winning the contest by an impressive 23 points at RAC Arena on Sunday night.

This was the first appearance of the season for Cairns, who had struggled throughout their time in the NBL Blitz pre-season competition. Unfortunately, this form carried into their season opener, as they were unable to keep up with the class of the Wildcats, who were brutal with their work on both ends of the floor. Despite this being Perth’s second match in 48 hours, there were no signs of fatigue for the NBL21 runners-up, who appear to be back to their best as they finish their opening batch of games with two wins from two outings.

QUARTER 1:

Surprisingly, the Taipans opened the match in fine, actually looking the better side in the opening minutes, which rattled a Perth side who may not have expected an opponent as fierce as the one they got. Cairns got off to the perfect start, with Kouat Noi draining the first field goal from behind the three-point line. The two sides traded baskets over the next few minutes, but it was the Taipans’ ability to execute their shots from behind the arc that saw them slightly break away from their opponents. Another pair of threes from Noi (who had 12 points in the first term) and some impressive work inside the paint from big man Stephen Zimmerman saw Cairns take an unexpected five-point lead into the quarter time break.

QUARTER 2:

This momentum was completely flipped in the second term, with the Wildcats finding the form that has served them so well in the past, while the Taipans were unable to maintain their hot start as their performance on both ends of the court fading away. This was not the case for the entire quarter, with Cairns actually extending their lead to eight midway through the quarter. However, it is in these situations that the cream rises to the top, and that is exactly what reigning MVP Bryce Cotton did to close out the second term. Cotton missed last year’s grand final series, but was able to bring himself back to his damaging best as the Wildcats turned their deficit into a five-point lead at the main break.

QUARTER 3:

Just when the Taipans thought they had endured the worst, Cotton took his game to another level. The three-time NBL Most Valuable Player scored 16 points in an explosive third term, and proved a problem that Cairns were unable to solve. Cotton simply had his way whenever he had the ball in his hands, with the star guard opting to do most of his damage behind the arc, sinking four threes for the quarter as Cairns defenders and coaches were left scratching their heads as the man of the moment extended the lead to 16 points heading into the final term.

QUARTER 4:

The final term saw Perth able to execute their game plan to finish the job and prolong the pain for the Taipans. The fourth quarter saw Wildcats recruit Victor Law finally get some freedom for the first time this match, sinking a pair of shots from behind the arc to take his points total to double-digits, while Jesse Wagstaff was also able to cause some damage on the scoreboard. In the end, the Wildcats did enough to make sure this was a comfortable win, running away with the match by 23 points, pleasing the 10,800 strong crowd at RAC Arena.

CLOSING THOUGHTS …

Cotton was clearly the star of the show, finishing with a game-high 31 points and five assists in a classic display for the Wildcats. He was a man on a mission, clearly looking to make up for lost time having missed out on the opportunity to claim a fourth championship in the 2020-21 season. It might be the early crow, but Cotton looks every chance to claim a fourth MVP award at the end of the season if he can keep his body in tip-top shape.

Following a 37-point season opener, Law was restricted in his second outing with the team, but took his chances when given the opportunity and finished with 14 points, while NBA Draft hopeful Luke Travers pulled down a whopping 13 rebounds, with five of those being offensive. For the Taipans, Noi finished with 17 points after his blistering start to the match saw his side claim an early lead, and will likely be given more attention in the weeks to come.