Wells: “MVP race over” after Cotton’s Breakers heroics

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells has called the NBL MVP race over after his star guard Bryce Cotton hit 42-points in a man of the match performance against New Zealand.

Cotton’s heroics included 13 points in a 33-18 final quarter that pushed the Sixers past the Breakers 92-89 in front of a 37^th straight sell-out crowd at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The Sixers overcame a slow start, even trailing by 18 points in the second quarter, before fighting their way back, on the back of Cotton’s top-scoring effort.

Asked how far away his side was from being in the form he wanted it to be in for playoffs, Wells said it depended on perspective.

“If you want to look at it as like the team found a way to win and we kept solving the problem and solving the problem and.. we show true grit, and nobody ever wavered, and they kept connecting, and we found a way to win,” he said.

“The negative… is we'd like to get off to a better start.”

The Breakers may have been missing a few key players but with their finals hopes on the line, it didn’t seem to bother them early. The Sixers’ shooting was a bit off, missing their first five field goal attempts and allowing the visiting side to post the first nine points of the contest.

The margin was 13 by quarter time despite Bryce Cotton racing to 10 points, as the Sixers went at just six of 18 from the field.

Pre-game Wells identified Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Isaiah Brockington as the Breakers’ key threats and it was those two doing most of the damage. They had 24 points between them to half time as the Breakers’ raced out to an 18-point lead before the advantage was cut to 11 by the main break.

Cotton continued to be the main scoring threat for the home side but he was finally getting support from DJ Vasiljevic, Zylan Cheatham and Isaac Humphries.

Knowing they needed to get moving, the Sixers quickly closed the gap to just seven points with Cotton pushing up to 29 points, but the Breakers just kept finding the basket and their efficiency at around 60 per-cent from the field as opposed to the Sixers’ 41 per-cent was proving telling.

Nick Rakocevic stood tall and hit a couple of triples to help the Sixers get closer and with the crowd rising, Cotton’s three free throws drew them level before a layup to Vasiljevic put the he Sixers in front for the first time in the game with just two minutes to play.

With the game ticking away, Flynn Cameron was judged to have fouled Brockington which would have sent him to the line for three free throws but a successful coaches challenge saw the call overturned and at the other end Cotton hit a three to put his side six points up with 17 seconds to play.

It was just the second successful challenge by Wells all season in the 32nd game, with the other coming earlier in the contest.

In the end while it was a nervy ending, the Sixers held on for an important win with just one game of the regular season to play.

Wells was full of praise for Cotton, saying the performance ended the debate as to who the competition’s NBL26 MVP should be.

“The MVP race is over,” he said “like, if it's not over tonight, then tell me what the definition is.

“Played 40 minutes, scored 42 (points), guarded the other team's best player, did everything. Most valuable player to his team.

"This thing is over. If you're not voting for Bryce Cotton, who's been the best player in this league since the day he got here, I want to know why. I want to see the votes.

“It's not even close. The MVP race is over today.”

The Sixers will travel west to face Perth in their final game of the regular season on Friday night at RAC Arena before facing off against the Breakers again on Sunday in the final of the Ignite Cup.