Bryce Cotton has powered his way to 41 points to lead the Perth Wildcats to a sixth straight NBL win, prevailing 114-105 over the Jonah Bolden-inspired Sydney Kings.
Bolden turned it on with seven three-pointers in his best performance on his return to professional basketball this season, but the Wildcats trumped him on Friday with Cotton producing 28 of his 41 points in the second half in a spectacular display.
On the back of that, the 'Cats overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to outscore the Kings 64-48 in the second to make it six consecutive victories, which leaves them 8-5 for the season.
"It was a great win against the defending champs on our home court," Perth coach John Rillie said.
"When you also have a great performance from a superstar it makes it easier, but we had many performances in the fourth quarter to help us get over the line."
Bolden had been playing a solid role for the Kings so far this season on his return after a three-year absence from the sport by rebounding, defending, setting screens and being a terrific teammate.
But at the RAC Arena, he turned into an offensive weapon, showing why his shooting touch for a big man led to him playing 61 games in the NBA.
Bolden already had 19 points, with five three-pointers to his name by halftime with the Kings leading 57-50.
While he missed his first three-point attempt in the third quarter, he soon made his sixth and showed his all-round abilities with a dunk and then block on Perth Next Star Alex Sarr.
But Cotton scored 16 points alone in the third quarter with the scores all square by three quarter-time after Perth put up 33 points.
The triple championship winner added another 12 points in the fourth quarter, with his 41 points including 14-of-16 shooting at the foul line and seven assists.
Keanu Pinder was an able sidekick, with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Sarr had 15 points and five boards, and captain and 456-game veteran Jesse Wagstaff 14 points.
It's now consecutive losses for the Kings, who slip to 7-5 despite the 28 points on 7-of-8 three-point shooting from Bolden.
Jaylen Adams added 21 points and eight assists, DJ Hogg 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and Denzel Valentine 13 points and nine boards.
Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah lamented his team conceding 14 offensive rebounds, giving up 18 points off turnovers and missing 14 free-throw attempts.
"We just had a few mental lapses," he said.
"I felt we obviously made some big mistakes to give them some easy buckets and that's the difference in the game.
"You've always got to make free-throws, that and taking care of the ball and the rebounding battle are the three biggest keys to the game, and they won those."
