Adelaide's miracle comeback on Cotton's return

Bryce Cotton returned to RAC Arena as the greatest Perth Wildcats player for the first time with the arch enemy Adelaide 36ers and his team came back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter for the remarkable 95-94 win.

The Wildcats were in control much of Sunday afternoon including leading by 20 points early in the fourth quarter before the 36ers went on a 19-2 tear to snatch the win with Flynn Cameron's bucket at the death.

Threes in the last four minutes from Cotton, DJ Vasiljevic and Isaac White had Adelaide back within four.

Then with 38 seconds to go, Cotton knocked down a technical foul and another two free throws to make it a one-point ball game with the stage set for a miraculous finish.

Isaac Humphries delivered a huge block on the driving David Duke Jr before Cameron made the game winning play.

With Cotton denied the hand off by Perth, Cameron took the chance to drive to the rack and lay it in with Adelaide pulling off the most incredible comeback wins outscoring the Wildcats 19-2 in just over the last three minutes.

Not only that, the 36ers now sit clear on top of the NBL standings at 13-3 as the hottest team in the NBL with six consecutive wins.

The career with Perth that Cotton put together will go down as the stuff of legend and with winning five league MVP awards and being key to the Wildcats winning three championships, his legacy is secured.

One day his No. 11 jersey will be hanging in the RAC Arena rafters, but on Sunday he returned in the colours of Perth's fiercest rivals for the first time.

There had been great speculation over how the Red Army would respond to the return of their favourite son, but it was all class on every front in the pre-game when he ran out onto the floor to rapturous applause.

The Wildcats played an emotional tribute video honouring and not only was it moving for Cotton watching on, but most of the 13,661 inside RAC Arena as well who chanted MVP.

That led into the game and Cotton turned into facilitator in the opening quarter for the Sixers with three early assists, but the Wildcats narrowly led 25-22 by quarter-time.

Perth built on that advantage in the second quarter with 25 points to 18 to head into the half-time break leading 50-40.

The Wildcats built on that lead further with a 28-20 third quarter and then were leading by as much 21 but the 36ers weren’t going away.

But a couple of huge threes from Vasiljevic and White had Adelaide back within six with two minutes to play before Cotton landed one of his own. Then the Sixers got a stop with Cotton drawing a foul and Kristian Doolittle earning a tech.

Cotton hit all three at the stripe to make it a one-point margin with 38 seconds to go before the Humphries block and Cameron drive and layup completing Adelaide's miracle fightback.

Cotton ended his first game as an opposition player at RAC Arena against the Wildcats with 21 points and 12 assists while playing all but 1:58 of the game.

Humphries had a huge performance too with 28 points, three blocks and 13/15 shooting while Zylan Cheatham contributed 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Not only did Cameron hit the winning shot, but he also ended up with eight points, eight rebounds and four assists.

It will be a tough loss to stomach for the now 9-7 Wildcats given the control they were in most of the way and with Doolittle having a good look at what would have been the winning three at the buzzer.

He finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists with Jo Lual-Acuil Jr adding 19 points and seven rebounds, David Duke Jr 13 points, and Dylan Windler 12 points along with three rebounds.

The 36ers now play to further consolidate top spot when they host Melbourne United on Friday with the Wildcats hosting the Sydney Kings later that same evening.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

PERTH WILDCATS 94 (Lual-Acuil Jr 19, Doolittle 17, Duke Jr 13)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 95 (Humphries 28, Cotton 21, Cheatham 20)

BOX SCORE