Bryce takes over fourth to break Bullets again

The Perth Wildcats made amends for a poor showing against Melbourne United with a muscular win against the Brisbane Bullets, 102-90 for their first ever victory at Nissan Arena. 

The Wildcats have had one of the more interesting schedules in NBL history, and somehow had waited until the doorstep of the playoffs before their first match in Queensland. 

As far as first impressions go, this was one to remember. 

With this 102-90 win over the Bullets, the Wildcats scored their 21st win of the season, which is good for five games ahead of the South East Melbourne Phoenix (16 wins) in third. 

The prize for a top-two finish is home court in semi-finals, making yet another Grand Final run for the Wildcats all the more possible. On the other hand, the Bullets, who slip to 13-15, now have some work to do to make the playoffs. 

The Wildcats started like men on a mission. In the opening quarter alone, the Wildcats piled on 28 points. This was thanks in part to two first-quarter daggers from Perth veteran Todd Blanchfield (31 points and seven rebounds), who had the hot hand. 

The Townsville-born Wildcat Mitch Norton also looked right at home, and missed only a single shot in the first half as he gathered nine of his 24 points. More impressive was the fact Norton achieved that in only 23 minutes. 

Despite the 10-point deficit at the first break, the Bullets didn’t let up. 

Brisbane captain Nathan Sobey (25 points, four assists) and marquee man Lamar Patterson (eight points, eight rebounds) helped claw the margin back to a single point (45-44 at the half), as the Bullets shot an impressive 58 per cent (18 of 31) up to that point. 

It took a last-minute three-pointer from Bryce Cotton to hand Perth the lead, and with that you got the sense that the game’s reigning MVP was heating up. 

But the Bullets began to take control of the game in the third, especially as Sobey and Harry Froling (nine points) began to find their range from three-point range. 

In fact, it was a last-second three (made by Froling, assist from Sobey) that punctuated a magnificent term for the Bullets. Brisbane outscored the Wildcats 22-16 in the third and entered the last with a five-point lead (66-61). 

Both sides traded a flurry of three-pointers to start the final quarter. With Blanchfield, Cotton, Froling Jesse Wagstaff, BJ Johnson shooting truly from beyond the arc in the first two minutes of the fourth. 

When Cotton made his second three-pointer of the quarter five minutes in, the Wildcats had not only snatched the lead by stretched it out to five points. It came during an 11-0 run for the Wildcats, which wrested control for the reigning NBL champs. 

Fittingly, it was Blanchfield who iced the game from the free-throw line late. Cotton was commanding in the last, but it was Blanchfield and Norton who kept the Wildcats in touch when the Bullets threatened. 

Will Magnay will have better nights than this (two points in 16 minutes), but Perth’s new recruit would have been happy to get this win against his old side. 

As is an annual tradition in the NBL, the Wildcats are hitting their stride right at the pointy end of the season. 

Coach Trevor Gleeson was delighted with the last quarter as they continue to build up Magnay game by game.

"It was an excellent last quarter, it really was. Norto really stood up when he needed to. What, did we score 18 points in the final five minutes... it was a really good job," Gleeson said.

"Will [Magnay] is going to be a process. He is improving with every game. We probably wanted to get 18 minutes or something. When he started to gas we thought let's get him out and have a shorter stint.

"We can't even practice. We're travel, game, travel, game, travel, game. Will a week ago was quarantine. He's taking gradual steps, and hopefully he'll be fine by the start of June."

This match marked outgoing coach Andrej Lemanis’ 400th game as a head coach in the NBL, but he was a little frustrated afterwards.

"Every game has its ebbs and flows and momentum runs and that sort of thing. When you analyse it, it is about how much of that is in your control and how much the ball bounces and play of your opposition. Both teams have a say in the outcome of the game, as do the referees," Lemanis said.

"We ended up with 11 turnovers, so we did a decent job there. I can't question the effort of the group, we were playing hard. When we don't execute some stuff that we wanted to execute and that ends up in them making the three-ball, that really hurts.

"We couldn't get stops. They made seven three in the fourth quarter. We gave the three-ball up to Jesse to start the fourth quarter, and that was a breakdown by us. Down the stretch, we were a little unlucky with some interpretations that turned them the game."

In a nod Brisbane's rich basketball history, the Bullets retired the fourth jersey before the game, as Nathan Sibley’s No. 52 joined LeRoy Loggins (No. 30), Ron Radliff (No. 22) and Larry Sengstock (No. 7) in the rafters. 

Those wishing for a rematch of this encounter won’t have to wait long. The Brisbane Bullets will again host the Perth Wildcats at Nissan Arena on Wednesday night. 

While the Bullets will be relatively rested, the Wildcats would have travelled to Cairns for a Monday night encounter with the Taipans. 

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 18

BRISBANE BULLETS 90 (Sobey 24, Cadee 14, Drmic 11)

PERTH WILDCATS 102 (Blanchfield 31, Cotton 24, Norton 24) 

BOX SCORE