The Perth Wildcats have brought the Cairns Taipans' unbeaten start to the NBL season to a screeching halt after an avalanche of long-range baskets in the opening half laid the platform for a comprehensive 105-76 victory.
The Wildcats drilled 12-of-24 three-point attempts in the first half of Monday night's clash at Cairns Convention Centre before going on to set a franchise record for three-pointers in a road game with 18.
Todd Blanchfield celebrated his 350th national league game in fine style with five triples as the visitors took an emphatic 60-37 lead into the main break then held focus at the defensive end to close out the win despite the absence of recruits TaShawn Thomas and Corey Webster.
Perth joins reigning champions Sydney Kings with a perfect 3-0 record after two rounds of the regular season.
Bryce Cotton paced the Wildcats with 24 points and seven rebounds, Mitch Norton (16 points, nine assists) narrowly missed out on a double-double while Blanchfield finished his milestone game with 17 points.
"Just from my experience when players have milestones, they just naturally want to play well in a milestone game," coach John Rille said about the 30-year-old Blanchfield's impact in the early stages of the match.
"I think his teammates did a great job of getting him the ball early and he capitalised by making the shots."
While Blanchfield connected on four triples in the first quarter, Cairns managed to keep pace and held a narrow 24-23 advantage before the floodgates opened in the second term, Perth unleashing a 37-13 run to stamp their class on the contest.
While the major damage was inflicted in the second quarter, Taipans coach Adam Forde felt some early lapses at the defensive end set the tone for his inexperienced squad.
"This is part of that learning curve for this group. Because there were things where, you know, it really rattled our cage. And so how do we respond to that?" Forde said.
"And it's really important that the guys evolve and learn from this, that we can't just shoot ourselves out of this, it has to be done at the defensive end."
Down by 23 points at halftime, the home side made a promising start with the first nine points of the third quarter but with Norton using his experience to steady the ship, Perth extended their lead to 25 points heading into the final period.
Keanu Pinder led the way for Cairns with 18 points and 15 rebounds while rookie Sam Waardenburg showed flashes of his scoring potential with 14 points all coming in the first half.
