IT WAS another big win at home for the Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League (NBL) on Thursday night, defeating the Cairns Taipans by 37 points on the back of an offensive explosion from Elijah Pepper.

Both teams remained out west following last week’s HoopsFest tournament, but the Taipans were always going to be up against it coming up against the Wildcats. Perth is among the bigger contenders this season, while Cairns has faced plenty of struggles throughout the 2025/26 fixture, and in enemy territory, faced a tall task.

The Taipans ended up being no match for the Wildcats at RAC Arena on Thursday night, with the home side blowing the game open in the third quarter to close out the contest with 15 three-pointers in one of their most emphatic offensive performances of the season.

Perth Wildcats (106) def. Cairns Taipans (69)

The Wildcats were able to get to their spots in the third quarter, but the Taipans were showing plenty of fight as well. Star off-season signing Jack McVeigh was keeping his team in the fight against a Perth outfit that had plenty of contributors. At the end of the first half, the Wildcats were in front, but only by 11 points and the Taipans were certainly hanging around.

However, Pepper helped give the Wildcats a spring in their step on the offensive end, harking back to his form with the Warwick Senators in 2025. The guard was one of the best players in the NBL1 over the past 12 months, and delivered a performance of that calibre in the win over the Taipans on Thursday night to make Perth an even scarier prospect.

Pepper dropped 20 points in the third quarter alone, exploding on the scoring front and giving the Wildcats plenty of perimeter presence to help blow the game open. Perth outscored Cairns 38-13 in the penultimate period and was able to take the foot off the accelerator in the final 10 minutes of the contest in an emphatic display.

Pepper was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points on 9/11 shooting from the field and 7/9 shooting from behind the arc, not needing any free throws to make an impact too. Forward Kristian Doolittle was also able to make a positive impact with ball in hand, posting 19 points of his own to continue a strong campaign.

McVeigh fought valiantly to try and keep the Taipans in it, and can certainly hold his head high with 34 points while shooting 50 per cent from the field, but did not receive enough help from teammates.