Can brilliant Bryce hit 40 again?

When Perth travels to Illawarra for a mouth-watering matchup on Sunday, it has all the makings of a “high scoring” shootout.

“What more do we want? “There won’t be a seat available in the venue,” former MVP Derek Rucker said on NBL Now.

The Hawks sit alone atop the NBL standings and will be hoping to slow down a Perth team that has become an offensive juggernaut since the FIBA Break. The Wildcats are averaging over 118 points per game in that stretch, which includes Bryce Cotton’s 48-point average in his last four.

“Can Bryce go for 40 on the road in Illawarra?”, Rucker asked.

“It’s an arena (WIN Entertainment Centre) that I don’t feel is very easy for opponents to score in. So if he can drop 40 there, then wow, it will be an amazing achievement.”

Cotton's run's of 59, 40, 49 and 44 points back-to-back is a feat not seen since Andrew Gaze did it back in 1991.

“Illawarra has some really good on-ball defenders,” Rucker said on how the Hawks can try and slow Cotton down.

“They have (Wani) Swaka Lo Buluk, they’ve got (Will) Hickey, Trey Kell, Tyler Harvey. All those guys have length and athleticism.

“They have a lot of pieces they can throw at Bryce, so if he can score 40 in this one ... I’m putting it as one of the top three achievements ever in the NBL.”

Illawarra and Perth have split this season’s matchups thus far, with the Wildcats winning the previous battle just two weeks ago out west.

The teams face off on Sunday afternoon at 2.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN, 10 and 10 Play.