A REINVIGORATED Perth Wildcats lead by a dominant point-scoring machine in Bryce Cotton will look to bounce back from a rare recent loss last week and remain on the upward trajectory when they take on Adelaide 36ers tonight. The Round 14 NBL clash marks a desperate attempt for the 36ers to remain in contention for the Play-In Tournament, while the Wildcats must salute in order to keep a top two chance alive.

Adelaide 36ers vs. Perth Wildcats

Adelaide Entertainment Centre, 8:00pm AEDT

Perth is coming off a humbling 120-88 loss to ladder leaders Illawarra on December 22, just its third loss in eight appearances of late. If the Wildcats had not started the season at 2-4, then the ladder might have been kinder on them than their current fifth placed ranking. Since losing three on the bounce in the opening few rounds, the Wildcats have not lost consecutive matches, but won consecutive matches on three occasions.

If the Wildcats can back up their impressive home win shootout against the 36ers (115-105) on December 8, then it will put them back in with a chance of a top two finish, while keeping the sides outside the top six – including Brisbane Bullets and the 36ers – at bay. For Adelaide, sitting three wins outside those Play-In Tournament spots, it really is getting to panic stations, with the 36ers needing to string some wins together very soon.

Alas for the home side, just one win in its past seven matches has seen the 36ers free fall down the ladder. Additionally, Adelaide’s only 100-plus score in that run – and since putting up 102 in an upset one-point win over Illawarra on October 10 – came in that defeat to Perth. The Wildcats are the team with the worst points conceded record, so the 36ers will be hoping to gain crucial open looks.

It is not just about getting the open looks, but making them as well. Adelaide is solid for taking its chances, ranking third in field goal percentage, but only middle of the road for getting opportunities (sixth). The Wildcats on the other hand are great on the offensive end (second for points) but poor on the defensive end.

The game could be as simple as just how much damage Cotton does, with the Wildcats star and multiple NBL MVP on a tear at the moment. The point-scoring machine is currently putting up 26.7 per game, as well as 3.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists, though the Arizona native is shooting from the field at 49 per cent. It means half of the shots he puts up are dropping.

He was contained by the Wildcats for just 13 points in 28 minutes, dropping an un-Cotton like 31 per cent from the field, including none of seven chances from long-range. However the last time he only managed 13 points – against the Bullets back on November 29 – it sparked the hottest purple patch of games throughout the first two weeks in December.

From December 1-14, Cotton put up four consecutive games of 40-plus points, at an average of 48 per match. He also dished off 5.3 assists in that time and only had more than two turnovers once. For all of his ridiculous seasons of the past decade, the 32-year-old is now putting up career-best points and carrying the Wildcats back up the ladder.

It is no secret that the 36ers will be planning on trying to stop Cotton. If the Wildcats star can be quelled, then half your job of beating Perth is already ticked off. Kendric Davis can do plenty of damage going the other way, averaging a league-high 7.27 assists per match, and like Cotton has been in-form of late, with eight or more in his past five games including 11 in the loss to the Wildcats where he also put up a ridiculous 37 points.

It might be a shootout between the two Americans, with Davis second in points for the season behind Cotton with 23.9. However the pair need support, and for Davis, that will come via the bigs. Montrezl Harrell is absolute quality and from his 14 games, has averaged 19.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. He will need to be at his best to try and grab any rare misses off Cotton’s hands. Dejan Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries have also been important in putting points up across the course of the season with the former from long-range and the latter from inside the paint.

For the Wildcats, Kristian Doolittle (12.8 points, 3.2 assists and 7.5 rebounds) has provided some nice support for Cotton, while Keanu Pinder has averaged 14.3 points from just 22 minutes this season, also picking up 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals. Dylan Windler (11.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals) has also featured across 16 games with plenty of impact.

As a whole, the key will be which one of Cotton and Davis can get their game going the most, but the form of the Wildcats means Perth should be able to get up. On paper though, the top-end quality of the 36ers is something that should be competing in the Playoffs, so home fans will be hoping to turn their form back around.

TIP = Perth Wildcats by 8 points