JUST ONE game each was played by the Western Australian sides over the weekend for the first time all year, and it came as a success as both teams had convincing victories.

For the Perth Lynx, Thursday night welcomed the bottom-placed UC Capitals to Bendat as the home side looked to bounce back from their dual defeats in Round 6. Perth led this one from pillar to punch, holding the Capitals to just 10 first quarter points and developing a 27-point lead by half-time. They extended that lead to 33 at three quarter time and despite losing the final term, comfortably dismissed the current wooden spooners.

Perth did not shoot the ball particularly well, hitting just eight of 38 three-point attempts. The Lynx shot only 34.5 per cent from the field, though they did slip out of their funk from the free throw line, going 21/25 from the charity stripe. 

Most of that was due to breakout star Miela Sowah, who got to the line for 13 free throw attempts and nailed 12. Though the usual sharpshooter missed all six of her shots from beyond the arc, her attacking nature and desire to get to the rim allowed her to rack up 24 points, the most of all Lynx players. Sowah has increased her scoring average to 18 points per game, now third in the entire competition. 

Laeticia Amihere, who remains seventh in the league for scoring, had a massive performance. She shot 4/7 from the free throw line on her way to 15 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. She is now also third in the league for blocks per game, averaging 1.5 per contest. Amy Atwell nailed three of her eight shots from downtown en route to 15 points, while Alex Wilson stuffed the stat sheet for a balanced line of 10 points, four assists, six rebounds and two steals. 

Captain Anneli Maley had a quieter game, but was able to take a backseat due to the blowout victory. She finished with five points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Teige Morrell contributed six points and an impressive 12 rebounds.

The Lynx next face the Bendigo Spirit in a top of the table clash on Thursday afternoon. The two sides, who sit well clear of the rest of the pack, faced off in Round 6 and the Spirit came out victors to remain undefeated for the season. Perth hosted that game and this time Bendigo will stay at home, as it looks to extend their winning streak to 10 consecutive victories to begin the year. Perth then returns home to play Geelong United for the first time on Monday in their second game of Round 8.

The Perth Wildcats also played the bottom placed side in the NBL on Saturday as they headed to Cairns to tackle the struggling Taipans. Bryce Cotton entered the contest in extreme form, having scored 40-plus points in each of his last three outings.

Cairns got the hot start in this one, holding Cotton scoreless through the first nine and a half minutes of basketball and leading the Wildcats 28-22 after the opening quarter. The second term was equally tough, the Wildcats reigning in the deficit to trail by just three points going into the second half. Cotton scored 12 points in the second quarter to go into the main break with 16 total.

The third quarter began in another tight tussle, both teams going back and forth and it appeared to be a game that would go down to the wire. With 3:50 remaining in the third term the Wildcats led by just one point. Then things went haywire. Perth finished the quarter on a 19-2 run to all of a sudden lead by 18 points going into the final break.

Cotton caught fire, as he has done so often in this spectacular run of scoring, and in the fourth quarter the Wildcats outscored Cairns 35-17 to run away 36 point winners. They outscored the Taipans by 37 points in the second half of the game. 

Cotton, incredibly, finished with 44 points, becoming the first player in 33 years to score 40+ points in four straight games. He scored all 44 points in 26 minutes of game time. Cotton shot 3/6 from long range, 7/8 from the free throw line and also dished out six assists.

It is one of the all time great purple patches from the Perth MVP favourite, and as he embarks on his quest for a fifth MVP title, he has bumped his scoring average up to 27.8 points per game, most in the competition. That average includes the zero points he scored in his injury-affected game earlier in the year (without that outlier he is averaging 30.1 points per game).

Perth was boosted by the return of Keanu Pinder, who, despite coming off the bench delivered an impressive double-double. Pinder scored 13 points and collected 10 rebounds upon his return from illness. They also got significant contributions from Dylan Windler who scored 18 points and shot 5/9 from downtown to go with four rebounds, five assists and four steals and from Ben Henshall, who did a little of everything scoring seven points along with three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Next star Izan Almansa continued his solid season with nine points and four rebounds, while Elijah Pepper scored 10 points off the bench as well. 

Perth forced 14 Cairns turnovers and outrebounded the home side by 12, while dishing out 11 more assists as well. For Cairns, things went from bad to worse, as the depleted side scored an unbeliveable zero bench points. All five starters were forced to play over 30 minutes, and all scored in double figures, while Kyle Adnam, Jonah Antonio and Alex Higgins-Titsha were the only three reserves to see court time, all going scoreless in a combined 35 minutes.

Taran Armstrong led the home team with 24 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while Rob Edwards and Tanner Groves combined for 43 points, but it was too big an ask for the Taipans starters as they fatigued late in the game and fell away. Cairns drops to 3-13 for the season, well entrenched in last place with a trip to Brisbane on the cards as it next faces the Bullets on Friday evening.

Perth remains in fourth place on the NBL25 table, with a battle against the league-leading Illawarra Hawks to come on Sunday morning.