Cats ease past Bullets
The Perth Wildcats stormed to their sixth straight National Basketball League win at home by bulldozing the injury-riddled Brisbane Bullets 99-83 in Perth.
The Bullets badly missed the firepower of injured duo Stephen Black and Kevin Freeman and have now gone 3-3 in the past six matches after setting up a 15-4 record.
It was a good all-round performance from the Cats as they improved to a 10-12 record while the Bullets (18-7) slip from second to third place after Wollongong's win over Townsville.
Swingman Rashad Tucker (18 points 17 rebounds four assists) played one of his best games for the Cats while Tony Ronaldson (16 points 11 rebounds) imposed himself physically in the paint.
Meanwhile Derek Rucker (15 points) and Bobby Brannen (15 points) were unable to produce the numbers for the visitors to be competitive.
Tucker had a sizzling second quarter to send the Wildcats out to an 11-point lead before Bullets charged back courtesy of backcourt pair Ben Castle and Rucker.
The visitors' offence struggled without Black and Freeman as it shot a worrying 36 per cent in the first half - but still trailed by just 50-48.
Michael Hill was seemingly Brisbane's only avenue to the basket in the third term as the home side skipped out to a 69-59 at three quarter time.
Ricky Grace and James Harvey launched a barrage of three-pointers early in the final term as the Cats busted open a 19-point edge which was never challenged.
Brisbane host Wollongong and Melbourne in their next two matches while the Wildcats make the longest trip in the NBL with two matches in New Zealand.
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