The Wildcats are flying behind another outstanding campaign from superstar Bryce Cotton, firmly placed in second with an 18-6 record as the pointy end looms with playoffs on the horizon.
For the Breakers, it’s been more downs than ups as they’ve failed to fire on a consistent basis.
Currently languishing in eighth at 8-16, it’s becoming a safe bet that Dan Shamir’s squad won’t be competing in the post-season.
But this is the NBL, and no team is safe on any given night, particularly if this fixture is anything to go by.
The last time these two met in Round 14 it was the Breakers who came out on top on the road, with spark-plug Levi Randolph chipping in with a game-high 23 points off the bench as Cotton misfired in a woeful 4-17 performance from the field.
And while the story of the previous meeting was the play of the guards, it’ll be the big men that look set to make the difference this time around.
With starting point guard Tai Webster sidelined for the foreseeable future, towering import Colton Iverson will be the X-factor the Wildcats will need to contain in the paint.
At 213cm, Iverson has been dominating the boards and turning in immense numbers all season, pulling in 17 to go along with 11 points in the Round 14 win as the Wildcats could only amass 26 as a team.
“He played really well against us, he was a big difference in the game,” Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said of Iverson’s Round 14 performance.
“We didn’t really play to our potential on the offensive end either, we didn’t put him in situations that we need to put him in and hopefully we’ll do that this week.”
Fortunately for Perth, they have their own rebounding weapon and his name is John Mooney, who sits atop the league leaders on the boards with a staggering average of 12 a game ahead of Iverson in third.
While he had his own outstanding game the first time they met, dropping in 22 points and 8 boards, he’ll be hoping to show Iverson who’s boss from the opening tip on Saturday night.
Away from the tall timber, there’ll be plenty of fireworks from both sides, with Breakers guard Corey Webster looking to step up again in his brother’s absence following a 20-point outing in the loss to Melbourne United.
For the Wildcats, you can’t look past Cotton, who will have extra motivation to torch the Breakers this time around and show them they got lucky in Round 14.
How else would you want to spend your Saturday evening?
WATCH the New Zealand Breakers square off against Perth Wildcats in the NBL LIVE, FREE and in HD on SBS VICELAND from 5:30pm AEST on Saturday, May 1 – with live-streaming also available via SBS On Demand.
