The Adelaide 36ers have bounced back to form in emphatic fashion, crushing South East Melbourne Phoenix with a lights-to-flag 88-71 NBL victory.
In front of 9802 fans at a heaving Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday night, Bryce Cotton was also back to his brilliant best, pairing 28 points with six assists, while Isaac Humphries had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Zylan Cheatham pulled down 14 boards for the second-placed Sixers (4-1)
Jordan Hunter (16 points) waged a largely lone vigil for the off-colour Phoenix (2-2), who crashed from third to fifth on the ladder.
Cotton, held to just seven points in the Sixers' 24-point loss to Sydney last Saturday, started off with a three in the opening seconds and capped a commanding quarter by shaking Nathan Sobey and drilling a jumper from the corner.
"We had a very professional approach," 36ers coach Mike Wells said after the match.
"I thought that was the appropriate response.
"Defensively, we looked like we made some strides."
Cotton racked up 15 for the first term to see the 36ers sprint clear 28-16.
South East import John Brown had to take a seat after following a reach-in foul with a technical foul for dissent as Adelaide's advantage swelled to 43-19 on Cotton's steal and lay-up.
Another technical against the Phoenix bench compounded the woes for the visitors, whose shooting was abysmal.
They misfired at 10-of-44 for the half, including 1-of-16 from three-point territory.
At the other end, Cotton continued to fire, racking up 23 first-half points as the Sixers held sway 50-27 at the main break.
Cotton launched the third stanza with his fourth trey, and Humphries dominated in the paint as the margin ballooned to 28 points.
The Phoenix belatedly started dropping shots, while Adelaide's ball use became increasingly sloppy, but the gap remained an unassailable 66-45 at three-quarter time.
When captain Dejan Vasiljevic ended his cold snap by finally nailing his first field goal of the evening - a three-pointer in the opening stages of the fourth - the 36ers were back on track, before Phoenix made some late ground as the hosts cleared their bench.
"It was one of those nights, for sure," South East Melbourne coach Josh King said.
"We played a team that played with a lot of urgency.
"That had a lot to do with how we were shooting the ball."
