"He had that look in his eye"

Sunday saw the Adelaide 36ers record their 10th win from 11 matches, by defeating the Perth Wildcats 95-84.

But the competition front-runners, who are now 17-4 on the season, didn't have it all their own way at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The Wildcats, who had already tasted success in Adelaide this season, jumped out to a nine-point lead at quarter-time, before a29-9 third period set up the host's comeback win.

The catalyst for the victory was former Wildcat Bryce Cotton, who tallied 36 points and 7 assists.

During the 36ers fightback, coach Mike Wells could see that his five-time MVP was locked in to the task at hand.

"He had that look in his eye," Wells said in Sunday's post-game press conference.

"At times he was telling us to get everybody out of his way.

"He was locked in the zone, which is something we're all still adjusting to.

"But I saw the look, as did the rest of our team. He wanted his teammates to shoot the open shots and he wanted everybody to be aggressive.

"Collectively though, it started on the defensive end. We cleaned up the boards and we kept him out of the paint."

Next up for the 36ers is a home clash with the Sydney Kings, who have defeated Adelaide on both occasions this season.

One player that knows the Kings better than most is Dejan Vasiljevic, who won two championships with the club.

"[After our day off], we'll all lock in on Sydney, who we haven't beaten yet," Vasiljevic said.

"We'll do our due diligence and scout before Friday night, in a prime-time clash.

"It's going to be awesome to open the new year in front of a full house."

Adelaide's Round 15 clash with Sydney tips off at 7.30pm AEDT on Friday, live on ESPN.