PERTH LEADS
PERTH Wildcats will go in to the final round of NBL action on top of the ladder after a thrilling 95-86 comefrom-behind win in overtime against the Sydney Kings yesterday.
The Wildcats and Bryce Cotton took a long time to shrug off the nine-day break since the win over the Illawarra Hawks.
Cotton scored his first point 71 seconds before three-quarter time. But he dropped 14 points in overtime to finish with a gamehigh 27 points.
Before that, Angus Brandt had kept the Cats in the game, with 19 points to three-quarter-time; 13 in the third quarter; and almost all in the paint against Andrew Bogut.
Not that Bogut had a bad game. His 16 points and 15 rebounds means he will go in to the finals with a double-double against every team in the competition.
Perth holds a one-win and percentage advantage over Sydney and Melbourne United and will face the latter and Adelaide next weekend.
If the Wildcats can win in Melbourne, they will finish the season on top of the lad- der with home court advantage in the finals, regardless of what happens against the 36ers.
The Kings, who dropped from first to third with the loss in Perth, will play their final game against the Cairns Taipans, with second spot still a chance. Melbourne, which beat Adelaide 89-87 yesterday, also plays the Taipans before hosting Perth.
Adelaide still has plenty to play for also, potentially needing to defeat Perth on Friday night to stop Brisbane from knocking it out of fourth spot.