Wildcats look to match Taipans energy

A year ago, almost to the day, the Perth Wildcats and Cairns Taipans played in one of the most entertaining and competitive semi-final series in recent history.

After an overtime win in the series-opener, the Wildcats went on to win the series in three games.

Bryce Cotton had his second-highest scoring NBL game in that series, dropping 42 points on a club-record equaling 10 three-pointers

Cotton said he’s expecting another tough battle.

“They’re pretty much the same team, I would say, as last year with the exception of Newbill who’s a pretty big loss,” he said.

“But, they’re a very talented team, super athletic. So, we’re going to have to match their energy and make life difficult for all their key players.

“If they get comfortable, if they find a groove early in the game, then they’re going to be a tough team to beat and they’ll start making shots in succession.

“If we make life hard for them, I’d like to think we’d have favorable odds.”

Perth are coming off consecutive wins for the first time this season after defeating Melbourne and Sydney in their last two outings.

Cotton believes the time spent together playing games is helping his team come together.

“All the games this year, they’ve all been close, they all come down to the last two minutes of the game. Those types of pressure situations help our team, and we learn how to handle adversity and not get sped up and to stay poised.

“Being exposed to so many games like that helps us grow up pretty fast.”

The Taipans have three wins from 10 outings so far this season, but have won two of their last three.

Their star guard Scott Machado leads the NBL with 9.5 assists per game.

Tip-off on Friday is at 4.30pm WA time. Watch live on ESPN and SBS On Demand.