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Dylan Windler, Keanu Pinder and Bryce Cotton have led the Perth Wildcats to a landslide 24-point victory over the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL.
The Perth Wildcats spent four quarters poking holes in the Adelaide 36ers' threadbare defence to cruise to an emphatic 116-92 victory in the NBL.
After a tight opening, the Wildcats blew the match apart with a 29-16 second quarter, then silenced the sell-out Adelaide Entertainment Centre crowd of 9495 and inflicted the Sixers' seventh defeat in eight games with a 38-29 final-term flourish.
Import Dylan Windler top-scored on Saturday night with 24 points including six three-pointers, ex-36er Keanu Pinder hit 12-of-16 free throws in a 23-point haul, and superstar Bryce Cotton had 21 points and 11 assists.
"We needed to show that we could bounce back on the road," Perth coach John Rillie said, referring to his side's 32-point loss at Illawarra.
"That was the challenge coming in here.
"Our communication amongst each other and the defensive end was really good and our rebounding was at a good level.
"Our shot quality was very good tonight."
Adelaide captain Dejan Vasiljevic scored 23 points off the bench in his return from a five-game absence with a hamstring injury, while point guard Kendric Davis scored 18 of his 19 points after half-time, a haul he combined with 10 assists.
The Wildcats consolidated fifth spot after hitting 21-of-43 from three-point territory, taking advantage of the Sixers' staggering refusal to defend the perimeter.
"Our competitiveness and our ability to stay in the fight longer hasn't been what it needs to be," 36ers coach Mike Wells said.
"You've got to get to the three-point line (defensively), you've got to take guys off the (free-throw) line, you've got to contest with everything in you."
Windler and Cotton launched Perth to a 17-9 head start before Vasiljevic came off the bench and momentarily inspired his sluggish side, scoring eight unanswered points in the space of 53 seconds to tie the game at 17-all.
Montrezl Harrell also generated some spark off the bench with seven points in the last three minutes of the opening term.
it was 26-all at quarter-time but the Wildcats' 6-of-10 return from three-point range was a worrying sign for Adelaide.
A furious 36ers coach Mike Wells called a time-out 23 seconds into the second term after Windler drained his third triple.
The American hit his fourth trey moments later and ended up going 6-of-8 from downtown in a 20-point half, with many of his looks wide-open.
Cotton had 14 first-half points on 3-of-4 threes as the Sixers crashed to a 55-42 half-time deficit.
Adelaide dragged the deficit back to 10 points in the third before a 14-3 Perth run pushed the score to 78-57.
The Sixers got it back to 15 points before completely disintegrating at both ends down the stretch, as the Wildcats continued to pile on points without resistance.
