Game in Focus: Seeding Qualifier

Perth Vs South East Melbourne

When: Tuesday, February 11 - 9.30pm AEDT
Where: Perth HPC
Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo | International
Scores: Download the free NBL App

Watch for: It’s a huge matchup out west between two teams that could go very deep into the finals if they can perform at their best. It will be a unique environment for the Wildcats, with this game being played at HPC, which has a capacity of just 4,500, a third of RAC Arena. For the Red Army who are lucky enough to get tickets to this game, their energy will hopefully be infectious for their team to get the job done and set up a Semi-Final series against Melbourne United.

This game becomes even more intense when the loser will have to play either Sydney or Adelaide to keep their season alive and then travel to Illawarra if they can survive that.

The Phoenix have played well against Perth all season but have squandered away opportunities to win by not closing out games. With Bryce Cotton ready to show the league why he is a five-time MVP, the challenge for the Phoenix is to play a full game without any poor quarters in hopes to close this out. Josh King’s men are one of the best defensive teams in the league and will face the ultimate test in trying to slow down Cotton and his team.

While the regular season proved to be a historic offensive display, defence is what has separated the good teams from the championship winners. Will that still be the case or can an offensively potent team re-write the record books?

Players to watch: Cotton has averaged over 29 points in his three games against the Phoenix this season, which poses quite the task for the likes of Owen Foxwell and Angus Glover to try and limit his impact. The biggest issue for the Phoenix is that as dominant as Cotton has been, it’s been his teammates who have stepped up to take pressure off him to perform at his all-time best.

Kristian Doolittle, Dylan Windler and Keanu Pinder are all playing some of their best basketball at the right time and will be heavily relied upon in this game to tick the scoreboard over.

For the Phoenix, it’s been the Matt Hurt and Nathan Sobey show in recent weeks, with both players having fantastic individual seasons. In their last game against Perth, it was Hurt who went to work early and looked unstoppable on the offensive end. King will be calling on his All-NBL First Team member to lead the way in a hostile environment.

The stat: Perth are undefeated when Dylan Windler scores 15+ points.

Missing in action: Derrick Walton Jr is out (hamstring).