Wildcats Win Big with Big Three Locked In

Bryce Cotton, Vic Law and Todd Blanchfield confirmed themselves as the big three at the Perth Wildcats as they continued to emerge as the #NBL22 road warriors with Thursday's 94-80 win against the Illawarra Hawks.

It was the second time the two teams had clashed at WIN Entertainment Centre in less than a week and it was a similar tale with the Wildcats backing up Saturday's 94-78 victory with this 14-point triumph to improve to 7-2 on the season and maintain pace with Melbourne United.

With the Western Australia Government closing the border to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the state, the Wildcats have effectively been sent on an extended road trip for an undetermined period of time. 

However, they are coping nicely and Thursday's win was largely of the making of the big three that is now finding their groove in just their fifth game together.

The trio combined for 66 of Perth's 94 points in the game with Cotton putting up 28 points on 8/15 shooting and 3/7 from deep. Law contributed 24 points and eight rebounds on 9/15 with Blanchfield adding 14 while going 3/4 from beyond the arc.

While the sweet shooting of Cotton and Law will dominate highlight reels, it was the defensive end where the Wildcats really shined in the second half - restricting Illawarra to just 36 points. 

Cotton admitted at half-time the team and individual defence were not up to standard and his side responded to lock down the Hawks - particularly in the opening five minutes of the final quarter.

The Wildcats surged to a seemingly unassailable 15-point lead in the final term, but there was one more twist in the tale as the Hawks managed to slash that margin to just seven. Law was quick to end the resistance, though, notching an important win for a side facing a long stretch on the road.

Wildcats coach Scott Morrison said it was not a perfect win, but was pleased with the result.

"Obviously we are always happy to get a win, there are no easy ones," he said.

"I don't think we were perfect and there is lots of room for improvement. But at the end of the day the guys laid it on the line, locked in when it counted and got off to a better start which was nice. We did a real good job playing together as a team."

Morrison said there had been no update on when (or if) the Wildcats could return home which had forced a change of mindset in the squad.

"There might be some people involved that are holding out hope but we have kind of put that to bed as a team," he said.

"We're just taking it one game at a time, like we just said in the locker room there are no more road games and home homes, there are just games - that is how we will approach it. Our next game is against Sydney and that is all that matters to us right now."

Antonius Cleveland had an NBL career-high points along with seven boards, three steals and three blocked shots for Illawarra.

Tyler Harvey (16 points, four rebounds, three assists) and Justinian Jessup (17 points, four rebounds) rounded out the scorers for Illawarra.

Despite Monday's home win against Adelaide, the Hawks have now dropped three of their past four, and four of their last six matches since starting the season 3-0. They are yet to beat a fellow top four team.

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said Perth's ability to spot a mismatch and the lack of productivity from the Hawks bigs led to their downfall.

"I always seems that no matter whether we went small or went big, we always had a match up issue," he said.

"I think they do a great job at recognising mismatches and going at the mismatch. In my time in this, I can't remember a team doing a better job of that than them right now.

"On the flipside I don't think we did a very good job with our bigs ... we've got some work to do to beat this team."

A defensive dogfight loomed large in the first quarter as the opening minutes saw some huge blocks at both ends while buckets were at a premium. Antonius Cleveland was a standout, appearing to read the minds of Perth players as an ever-present defensive threat. 

Perth guard Mitch Norton was forced from the court for treatment after copping a strike to the face during a baseline scrimmage that saw several players hit the deck. He could only watch on as Tyler Harvey and Duop Reath drained triples to push the home side out so a slender four-point lead. 

Cleveland then completely wrong-footed Michael Frazier to leave the Perth guard grasping at air in a dazzling cut to the rack. The Hawks pushed their lead out to nine, but the Wildcats grafted their way back and only trailed 22-21 at quarter time courtesy of a buzzer-beating bank shot from Cotton.

The Hawks surged to another six-point lead but they had few answers for Cotton, who was off balance, heavily guarded and still managed to splash a triple that was nothing but net. It was contagious, with the earlier points drought turning into a deluge of three-pointers at both ends.

It as deja vu for the Hawks who again extended their lead to double figures, only to watch it get mowed down by the Cotton-inspired Wildcats. He had 20 points by half-time and steered his side to a 46-44 lead heading into the main break. 

Justinian Jessup began to find his mojo after five scoreless quarters against the Wildcats with a long bomb and a floater that help his side wrestle their way back into the lead. 

But Law was quick to respond and in the blink of an eye the Hawks found themselves trailing by seven. A last gasp triple from Blanchfield was a dagger to the hearts of Illawarra supporters as they went into the final quarter in a 10-point hole.

That lead ballooned out to 15 in the final quarter and it was too much for the Hawks to reel in.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 9

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 80 (Cleveland 22, Jessup 17, Harvey 16)

PERTH WILDCATS 94 (Cotton 28, Law 24, Blanchfield 14) 

BOX SCORE