Adelaide came to Perth in the best interests of the National Basketball League but the Perth Wildcats showed no charity, beating the 36ers 122-114 at Challenge Stadium on Saturday night.

The 36ers answered the call when the Canberra Cannons, the Wildcats' original opponent for this game, went into voluntary administration earlier this week.

The 36ers came to Perth the night after beating West Sydney by four points in Adelaide but they couldn't put a dent in Perth's unbeaten record at home.

Perth remain at the top of the NBL ladder with 12 wins from 15.

For Adelaide, the loss was its first in seven games.

Having lost their first four games of the season the reigning champion 36ers had recovered to win their last six in a row.

Perth scored the first two points within 12 seconds of the start, but Adelaide kept control for much of the quarter, leading by 33-27 at the first break.

The Wildcats started the second quarter with a 13-0 run, which set up their four-point halftime lead, 61-57.

Rob Feaster and James Harvey were doing the damage for the Wildcats, with Feaster racking up 16 points and Harvey 11 by the half.

Mark Nash was the man for the 36ers, hitting 15 points in the first half.

The third term again belonged to the Wildcats as they outscored the 36ers by six points, aided by an 11-0 run midway through the quarter.

Charles Thomas tried to spark his team and had 10 points in the third period, but it still wasn't enough as the 36ers went into the final break 10 points in arrears after they trailed by as many as 18.

In the fourth quarter it was Adelaide's turn to go on a scoring spree.

Two minutes into the period and they started a 9-0 stretch that put them within one point of the Wildcats. But they couldn't break through.

Every time they got back close, the Wildcats answered the call and held on to the slenderest of leads until Thomas hit a long-range three-pointer to tie the game.

But Feaster pulled the trigger on some just as impressive three-pointers to lead the Cats to victory.

Feaster finished with a season-high 36 points, with Ricky Grace scoring 22 and Harvey 19.

Thomas led the way for Adelaide with 25, while Martin Cattalini and Nash finished with 22 each.

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