Match-winning Mooney tops Bryce-Casper show

The Bryce Cotton and Casper Ware battle resuming was one of the highlights of the NBL season so far, but John Mooney proved unstoppable for the Sydney Kings as the Perth Wildcats took out the 113-106 NBL Cup victory.

The game was the first between the Kings and Wildcats since last year's Grand Final series that had to be cut short after three games despite being scheduled for five. 

That meant the rivalry and feeling between the two clubs has only continued to grow when the 'Cats were named champions after leading the series 2-1, and there was plenty of that emotion on display at Melbourne's John Cain Arena on Tuesday.

Whether it was when Cotton first came into the NBL and Ware was at Melbourne United, or last season in those Perth-Sydney battles, the rivalry between the two superstar guards has been at times well-spirited and at times feisty, but always exciting and Tuesday's first encounter of #NBL21 was no different.

Despite Cotton feeling unwell in recent days, he still played and delivered 30 points and nine assists on 9/16 shooting. Ware continued to give the Kings a chance too with 34 points, five rebounds and four assists on 10/19 shooting. The trash talk between the two never stopped either.

The difference between the teams, though, was Perth big man Mooney. He has shown signs he could take over a game like this so far this season and it all came together with the Kings having no answer for him with Jarell Martin sidelined.

Mooney produced a standout performance made up of 30 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while shooting an incredible 12/13 from the field and 3/4 from three-point territory.

Getting 60 points out of their two imports was a big factor in Perth controlling the game after half-time and leading by as much as 15, but Ware and the Kings never gave in and still forced them to have to play to the final buzzer.

Todd Blanchfield also contributed 17 points for Perth and Mitch Norton 10 to go with eight assists as they raked in 16 offensive rebounds to six for 19 second chance points to eight.

Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson was proud of Cotton getting up to play despite being unwell and the whole team's performance.

"We didn’t even know he (Cotton) was going to play until an hour and-a-half before the game started. That's where he was," Gleeson said.

"He wanted to play, he didn’t want to let his teammates down and he could have quite easily said he wasn’t feeling well and he was out. But it's a testament to the selfless person he is that he'll go out there and to put in a performance like that when you're not 100 per cent, you tip your hat to him.

"I thought it was a really gutsy win especially with how they were shooting the ball in the first half. We had to wrestle that momentum back and I thought we did that just before half-time. We had built some momentum for the third quarter which was important."

Didi Louzada had a tremendous shooting showing for the Kings hitting 5/9 from deep for 19 points and three assists with DJ Vasiljevic producing 13 points, four rebounds and three assists, Craig Moller 10 points and Tom Vodanovich 10 points and four boards.

Kings coach Adam Forde wasn’t making any excuses for how his team handled foul trouble by changing the way they approached things, especially in the third quarter.

"We got in foul trouble early and regardless of what we thought of those actual foul calls, it made us very tentative and soft," Forde said.

"We sort of backed off a little bit and you couldn’t even call what we were doing was blitzing. We ended up trying to chase and screen our own man, and then the rotations off the ball were softer because everyone was fearful of fouling. 

"That's definitely on us to be able to not get rattled by what the calls are and move on to the next thing. It's definitely a learning point for us."

The Wildcats opened the game on fire once again and three-point plays to Todd Blanchfield and John Mooney set up the 8-2 beginning. But Sydney responded with their run of seven points and they were on top after triples from Daniel Kickert and Tom Vodanovich.

Casper Ware then went on a tear, Didi Louzada knocked down a pair of threes and the Kings were 30-24 up after one.

Louzada then added 10 more quick points in the best patch of shooting from the Brazilian so far in the NBL. 

That helped Sydney open up a nine-point lead too but Mooney was keeping the Wildcats close, and it was 12 offensive boards to two that helped Perth stay within two at half-time despite the Kings shooting 58 per cent from the floor and going 9/16 from deep. 

Mooney then hit five quick points to give Perth the lead to start the second half, and then a 10-0 run saw the 'Cats assert their authority and never surrendered the lead the rest of the way.

With Mooney proving on fire, Bryce Cotton then warmed up too with a couple of threes to see the 'Cats up 13 by three quarter-time.

With three-point bombs from Louzada, Craig Moller and Tom Vodanovich, the Kings stayed without touch but Cotton and Mooney just wouldn’t let it slip and Perth held on to win by seven.

The 'Cats are now 2-0 in the NBL Cup and 4-3 on the season ahead of facing the Cairns Taipans on Friday while the Kings are 4-5 with their next game against the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 6
NBL CUP WEEK 1

PERTH WILDCATS 113 (Mooney 30, Cotton 30, Blanchfield 17)

SYDNEY KINGS 106 (Ware 34, Louzada 19, Vasiljevic 13) 

POINTS AWARDED – Perth Wildcats 5, Sydney Kings 2

BOX SCORE