Calm in the chaos: Cotton backs experience to guide 36ers

Having played the Sydney Kings on four occasions this season and only winning once, the Adelaide 36ers are well aware of the threat they pose.

But all those previous matchups mean little when the two Championship Series rivals hit the Qudos Bank Arena hardwood from 7pm AEDT on Saturday.

>> Finals schedule, tickets & how to watch

While much has been made of the Bryce Cotton and Kendric Davis matchup, and rightfully so, the former knows the Kings are more than just a one-man band.

“The biggest threat [that Sydney possesses] is just how talented they are,” Cotton said on SEN SA.

“They love to play off talent, so we have to understand there's going to be certain guys that want to play one-on-one, and we're going to have to make it tough for them.

“Because once they see one or two easy baskets flow, that's when they can start taking the heat check threes, and all of a sudden they're feeling really good.

“So we need to try to eliminate those.”

While winning Game 1 is important, it’s not the be-all-and-end-all in a best-of-five game series.

With three championships to his name, Cotton believes he and teammate Dejan Vasiljevic, who won two titles with Sydney, will play a key role in keeping their squad level-headed during the highs and lows of a long series.

“DJ and I are going to have to make sure we share our wisdom and our perspective throughout this series because we're the only guys on the team that have won championships,” Cotton said.

“All of our experiences are going to be useful knowledge to the team and even reminders to ourselves of just kinda staying calm, staying in the moment, no matter how things are going.

“It’s exciting [to remind them] that the rest of the League is done, guys are back home, and now there are two teams left in it [and we’re one of them].”

Saturday’s Game 1 tips off at 7pm AEDT, live on ESPN and 10 Drama.