Basketball On The Internet.

WILDCAT superstar Bryce Cotton held the reins as his team of Grinches last night lobbed at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, dumping a sackload of coal on the 36ers before a late moment of unnecessary angst almost brought the party to an abrupt and unfortunate close.

Only 28.7 seconds remained in the match when Cotton dived for a sideline loose ball and Sixers forwad Alex Starling collided with him, the incident seeing the Perth superstar's legs taken out from under him.

It was a heart-in-the-mouth moment for Wildcats fans and any real lovers of the game and with Perth 16 ahead, begged the question why was he still on?

Had he been unnecessarily hurt in junk time, the answer to the question "Who Shot JR?" would have been every available member of the Red Army.

John Rillie finally subbed his superstar, recognising that Cotton (24 points, six assists) only knows one way to play, flat out, and that still risking him in a game where Perth led by as many as 30 points, was basically the height of foolishness.

Sure, it didn't look a likely blow-out early, Adelaide hanging tough in a high-scoring opening quarter, its 29-point effort its best opening period of the season. 

Perth though had 34, the 36ers unable to contain the hot-shooting Wildcats but still staying competitive, only down 48-54 at halftime.

Someone in  the AEC crowd must have challenged Cotton, and poking the bear is just plain stupid. Remember when the Adelaide crowd was revered as the league's most knowledgable?

Cotton went off for 11 points in rapidfire quick succession, mentioning it in passing to the Sixers "fan", Jesse Wagstaff also swishing threes, Hyrum Harris and Kristian Doolittle (19 points at 63 per cent, five boards, an assist, two steals and a block) completely on top in a withering 28-9 Perth avalanche.

Adelaide's inability to contain anyone in the third quarter was troubling and sadly masked the terrific game Isaac Humphries played.

He not only scored 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting, grabbed five rebounds, dished an assist and had two steals plus a block, but his work against Keanu Pinder (six points, 3-of-7 shooting) also was exemplary.

Apart from the odd turnover, every time he handled the ball, something good happened for the 36ers and along with Dejan Vasiljevic, who fed him well but could not find his own shot, these two should be the first players signed for next season.

Trentyn Flowers bobbed up late with a handful of dunks but will be a better player when he realises he doesn't have to try and hit a home run or a touchdown every time he handles the ball.

PERTH WILDCATS 100 (Cotton 24, Doolittle 19, Sarr 12, Wagstaff 11; Pinder, Doolittle 5 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 82 (Humphries 24, Flowers 13, Wiley, Vasiljevic 9; Starling 7 rebs; Vasiljevic 5 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,468