Perth Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton described as ‘hottest player on the planet’ after another 40-point game

Perth Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton has been described as “the hottest player on the planet” after creating more records by scoring 40-plus points for the third game in a row. Cotton destroyed the Adelaide 36ers, scoring 49 points as the Wildcats won 115-105 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The four-time NBL MVP’s effort followed his 59 points against New Zealand in Perth last Sunday and 40 points against Illawarra at home on Friday. Cotton became the first man since the iconic Andrew Gaze in 1991 to score 40 points in three consecutive matches. Adelaide coach Mike Wells marvelled at Cotton’s efforts. “Credit to him. He’s the hottest player on the planet right now. It’s a remarkable job of what Bryce has done. Hats off,” he said. Cotton’s extraordinary run has seen him soar from the 33rd ranked player for NBL points this season when he returned from missing five games due to a rib injury to having more points than anyone else in the league. He was 125 points behind the NBL’s leader, Chris Goulding at the time, but is now 31 points clear of all of his rivals despite playing significantly fewer games. While basketball lovers are in awe of his efforts, Cotton is determined not to look too deeply into what he’s doing. “I’m just taking each game as it comes and staying in the moment. Why ask why?” he said. “It’s just missing the game. That month I was out felt like an eternity. “Seeing how hard our guys play every single night and just wanting to be part of that, I was very anxious to play that whole month. So I guess it’s just a lot of pent up emotion and energy.” The Wildcats were missing import Kristian Doolittle (groin) and star Keanu Pinder (illness) and turned around their interstate struggles to fight back from six points down during the final quarter. Ben Henshall made some crucial shots in the final quarter to finish with 15 points and Dylan Windler produced 13 points while also winning seven rebounds. Kendric Davis returned from suspension for Adelaide and was outstanding with 37 points and 11 assists. Adelaide were also missing key players with Montrezl Harrell (suspended) and DJ Vasiljevic (injured) unavailable and they then lost Sunday Dech during the game to a hamstring injury. Wildcats coach John Rillie was thrilled that his team fought so hard while interstate as the win lifted them to fourth on the ladder with a 9-8 record. “We haven’t got the best road record so we needed to address that situation and we did a good job of that,” he said. “What I’m most proud about is the way we just hung in for the last 20 minutes. In the first half we were trying to find our way through it. “Then in the fourth quarter, our decision making – I know it looked like some really high level shot making which it was – but our decision making and our trust in each other was on point.”