Wildcats thrash Brisbane to strengthen top-two hopes

An undermanned Perth stormed to their fifth win in a row in emphatic fashion, thrashing Brisbane 118-86 in Friday night's Pride Round clash in front of 12836 fans at RAC Arena.

Both sides came into the highly-anticipated contest with four victories on the trot but the Wildcats made sure their streak kept rolling as they strength their top-two chances.

Three-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton went a step closer to becoming a four-time winner with another dominant performance, amassing a game-high 28 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds.

Bryce is too nice. ?‍?

Watch live on ESPN via Kayo. pic.twitter.com/nU5uCuBF0f

— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) January 19, 2024

With Doolittle (concussion) and Sarr (hip) sidelined, import Jordan Usher got a recall to the starting five for the first time since the early rounds.

Usher made the most of his return to the starters, chiming in with 11 points and seven rebounds, with Tai Webster (20 points and six assists), Keanu Pinder (15 points) and Michael Harris (10) also reaching double digits.

Hyrum Harris was outstanding at both ends of the floor, reeling in a career-high 11 boards to go with five assists, helping make up for rebounding machine Doolittle's loss.

Brisbane also had availability issues with late-season signing and former Wildcat Casey Prather and Next Star Rocco Zikarsky both not making the trip to Perth due to illness.

With the Wildcats more than doubling the Bullets’ score late in the first term, David Okwera, Michael Harris and Jesse Wagstaff all came off the bench.

Okwera scored four consecutive points in his first minute on the court, as did Cotton before getting a rare rest as the hosts took a 31-13 advantage into quarter-time.

Unsurprisingly, Cotton was the first player to reach double digits early in the second quarter, with Pinder not far behind.

The Wildcats led by as much as 30 in the second before Brisbane hit back ahead of the main break to cut the score back to 57-38.

Brisbane continued to make inroads in the third, with the margin down to 11 points before back-to-back triples from Hyrum Harris and Wagstaff eased the pressure.

Leading 85-61 at the final change, Perth's buffer continued to grow before every player got a run on the court.

Dontae Russo-Nance, who turns 19 on Saturday, hit a couple of late buckets and fellow Development Player Jack Andrew got the crowd on its feet with a huge dunk.

Every player ended up scoring with Ben Henshall and Kyle Zunic also among the late action.

The Wildcats complete Pride Round against two-time reigning champs Sydney Kings at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday.