Kings can't stop Cotton, Wildcats win sixth-straight

Jaylen Adams and Bryce Cotton have delivered in an MVP shoot-out but it was the Perth Wildcats who had the answers to defy the Sydney Kings for a sixth-straight victory.

Cotton (29 points, four steals) continued his fine season in Sunday's 104-98 victory in Sydney, with the Wildcats' 13th win in 15 games improving them to 15-7 and putting them three wins clear in second spot.

Fresh off a 39-point haul last weekend, Adams matched Cotton with 29 of his own and did his best to drag the Kings home in the final quarter.

He found his mid-range jump shot to level the scores at 92-92 with little more than two minutes to play, before he and Cotton traded tough three-pointers.

It was a Hyrum Harris triple that tipped the scales Perth's way, before the visitors managed the clock in the final minute to continue their remarkable run.

The two-time defending champion Kings (11-12), who snapped back to form with an emphatic win over New Zealand last weekend, will slip behind the winner of Brisbane and Cairns later on Sunday into fifth.

Perth, who beat the visiting Bullets last Sunday, started smartly and led 26-13 after seven minutes.

The Kings missed their first nine three-point attempts but, trailing by as many as 14, surged back into the contest with a 37-point second quarter. They were down by just one at halftime and by three at the final break.

But Cotton had plenty of help as the Wildcats continued their winning ways, with Jordan Usher (24 points, five assists) and Tai Webster (16 points, five assists, three steals) chiming in with momentum-turning plays.

Kings bench forward Makuach Maluach had 18 points on five-of-six shooting while Jordan Hunter had 15 points and 12 rebounds.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 16

SYDNEY KINGS 98 (Adams 29, Maluach 18, Hunter 15)

PERTH WILDCATS 104 (Cotton 29, Usher 24, T. Webster 16)

BOX SCORE