No sleep lost after Cotton "outlier"

While Saturday's performance by five-time MVP Bryce Cotton was one of the worst of his amazing career, one NBL legend is confident he will bounce back in a big way in Round 5.

Cotton's seven points during Adelaide's loss to Sydney was his equal-sixth lowest scoring output during his 262 NBL games.

That mark is far below his career average of 23.1 points per game.

But three-time NBL champion Chris Anstey has the utmost confidence that Cotton will bounce back during the 36ers' Round 5 clash with South East Melbourne on Thursday.

"Bryce would have slept absolutely fine knowing you're one of the greatest players in the league, one of the greatest players in the history of the league, and he had a bad night or a quiet night," two-time Olympian Anstey said on Tuesday's episode of NBL Now.

"Bryce Cotton is someone who never has to worry about one game as an absolute outlier and that was an outlier.

"I wouldn't expect to see another one like that from Bryce in the very near future, but sometimes it's nice to have them, you know, Bryce has come and had exceptional games to start the season with Adelaide.

"We all know how high he sets the bar, and by his own admission, he believes that bar should be set high.

"That was a quiet game [against Sydney], but he doesn't lose his ability, he doesn't lose his confidence after one quiet game.

"That's all it was, one quiet game for one of the best players this league's seen."

The 36ers had a night to forget on Saturday against Sydney, falling by 24 points.

After building one of the most talented rosters in recent NBL history, expectations are high around Mike Wells' team.

Thursday's fixture against the Phoenix tips off at 7.30pm AEDT at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, with the game live on ESPN.