Wildcats dominate 36ers in Adelaide

Dylan Windler knocked down six three-pointers and the Perth Wildcats ensured they will finish 2024 inside the NBL's top six by heaping some more pain on the Adelaide 36ers with the 116-92 road win.

The Wildcats got on top early with six early points from Bryce Cotton who ended the game on 21 with 11 assists before Windler took over to shoot 6/11 from deep for 24 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four blocks.

The 'Cats were in control the whole way at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in front of another packed house of 9495 that left disappointed with the 36ers putting in a second lacklustre home performance of the week.

The Sixers showed no signs of responding to the Christmas Eve 21-point loss to the Brisbane Bullets on the same court even with coach Mike Wells mixing it up bringing Montrezl Harrell off the bench and welcoming back captain DJ Vasiljevic.

It was a commanding performance from the Wildcats who improve to an 11-9 record with the 24-point win on the back of shooting 21/43 from three as a team, having 26 assists and outrebounding the Sixers 51 to 39 including 20 offensive boards for 21 second chance points.

Keanu Pinder also delivered 23 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals on 12/16 free-throw shooting with Izan Almansa adding 11 points and seven boards, and captain Jesse Wagstaff nine points and seven rebounds in game 492.

"We needed to show that we could bounce back on the road," said Wildcats coach John Rillie.

"That was the challenge coming in here and our communication amongst each other and the defensive end was really good.

"Our rebounding was at a good level and our shot quality was very good tonight."

The 36ers have now lost their past three games and seven of the last eight including the past three now by an average of 21.7 points.

That has Adelaide slipping further from top six contention at 7-11 despite Vasiljevic having 23 points on return from a hamstring injury with Kendric Davis adding 19 points and 10 assists, Harrell 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Isaac Humphries 12 points, eight boards and three blocks.

"Our competitiveness and our ability to stay in the fight longer hasn't been what it needs to be," Sixers coach Mike Wells said.

"You've got to get to the three-point line defensively, you've got to take guys off the free-throw line, you've got to contest with everything in you."

The signs were ominous early for the 36ers with Bryce Cotton starting the game with a three-pointer and then knocking down three free-throws for the 'Cats to be leading 6-2.

That soon became 12-5 when Ben Henshall and Dylan Windler also connected from downtown for the visitors but it was the injection of returning captain DJ Vasiljevic that gave Adelaide a much-needed spark.

In his first game since November 30, he scored the game's next eight points including back-to-back three balls to tie scores up, and that's where things stayed by quarter-time at 26-26.

Windler made two more three-pointers to open the second period for Perth and by the time he made another shortly after to top a 6-0 run, it was the Wildcats in control by nine points.

Cotton then knocked down consecutive triples and Windler added his sixth of the half on his way to 20 points with the 'Cats in control at the break 55-42 on the back of shooting 12/22 from long-range opposed to 3/14 for the 36ers.

Kendric Davis eventually made his first field goal of the game halfway through the third quarter for Adelaide after missing his first six shots, but Perth continued to have all the answers.

Captain Jesse Wagstaff hit a couple of three-pointers and with six more straight points, suddenly the Wildcats were out to a 21-point lead before Adelaide did at least score the last six points of the third frame.

Perth started the fourth quarter with the first four points to Henshall and they cruised to the eventual 24-point win from there with development player guard Donte Russo-Nance even hitting the first two three-pointers of his career to close things out.

The 36ers have the short turnaround to now playing their last game of 2024 in Sydney on Monday night which doubles as DJ Vasiljevic's first game back in Qudos Bank Arena as an opposition player.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, will play their fifth of seven straight road games next Sunday against the New Zealand Breakers.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

ADELAIDE 36ERS 92 (Vasiljevic 23, Davis 19, Harrell 13)

PERTH WILDCATS 116 (Windler 24, Pinder 23, Cotton 21)

BOX SCORE