JJ's have played in the past 19 days unlike Perth, and JJ's are a team built on defense and system, similar to the Gleeson teams of old. Ready to keep rising to the occasion of these playoffs.

So JJ's is my tip.

If Lee's not there, it'll be tougher for them though, with Magnay needing to play big minutes and stay out of foul trouble - which as we know, can be difficult in the NBL on the road.

Hopefully it's a cracker, like the first game of the season involving these two.

After seeing how Melb came out after 3 week break, I'm tipping JJs.

I think home court will certainly help cats, but can't see them winning, there is no position that cats are better in, Cotton the exception. Cotton scores 35 plus cats are a chance otherwise JJs by ten.

Cats gotta deal with Magnay too...

I think JJ's are gonna be pissed they didn’t get 2nd spot and take it out on a rusty Perth squad.

JJ's haven't been able to contain star guards all year... and Perth have the best in the league.

Cotton for 30+ and Perth W

JJs win for me.

Either way though, it's United and then daylight.

Why are the commentators there, but John Casey is a courtside reporter?

What is wrong with them? Put the best NBL commentator in the main commentary!

That is criminal.

Santa really struggling to hide his dislike of Perth and love for JJs

Refs calling absolutely everything so far, plus a few more.

Yep, refs calling everything, both sides though. Love what Doolittle gives at both ends.

This game going to be last 5 hours with all the fluid.
Players need to adjust and refs need to stay consistent all game.

What's the playoff record for total PFs?

19 fouls in that first quarter, that has to be some sort of record for a playoff game?

Ref ball is back boys!

On another note there's still nothing more funnier that Usher was pegged as DPOY at start of the season. The guy is traffic cone out there .

So much for letting the gane flow in the play-offs, may as well just attack the paint, likely get a call, phone might run out of battery watching this...

Horrible call on Sarr.
Roth breaking his two foul rule for McVeigh.
Crowd very quiet.
As usual the JJs just hang tough, cats have looked better.

Doyle living in Doolittles pocket right now

Refs put the whistles down.

What is JR doing? You can't have both Websters and Usher on the court at the same time. Harris was great in 1st qtr, no 2nd qtr minutes.

Crawford getting the calls Roth said cotton gets....

Yeah Roth playing the refs perfectly. Cotton getting raped out there and still no call

Cats slightly better in the first half but for some bonehead plays on offense allowed the Jackies to keep it closer in the end

Roth clearly learned from Gleeson how to get at the refs in Perth. Doolittle been great.

Leaving Doolittle on the floor with a concussion a couple of months after being fined for leaving Doolittle on the floor with a concussion is certainly A Choice.

Jackies playing it at their tempo in the second half. Crawford getting all the looks he wants. Can Bryce start hitting his shots. Game on

Wagstaff and Harris are a useful four combination but it's there weak spot at both ends. Cats in trouble.

Cats look flat, need your higher iq guys on the court. But not sure wags can guard mcveigh.... or usher anyone... usher needs off.

That foul on Harris for free throws is an absolute joke!!!

Bunch of bone heads

8 fouls to 2 in the 4th and the kestleman owned team getting the rub again. Seriously the fact people on this forum suggest perth gets home cooking in 2024 is comical. Pinder can get hit, slapped etc doesn't matter. Goes near someone on defence, foul...

How about celebrating after the game once you've won it not over one play, too much prematuring by this group.

Also santa, every call on tas, thorough deep dive into why it was wrong. But happy to let perth get hit with shockers, very biased.

Also santa, every call on tas, thorough deep dive into why it was wrong. But happy to let perth get hit with shockers, very biased.

JJs can't hit from deep and that's the game.

Huge 15 secs by Tai Webster. Last Cats win when Cotton didn't hit a 3?

Yawn at these handbags.

Awesome, another Monday game.

Olgun's Notebook

It’s a 10-9 foul count at the end of one quarter. Last night’s foul count over the entire game was 18-17.

The way this is being officiated - refs wanting a ton of freedom of movement, so calling any and all physicality - benefits Perth in a big way.

Santa and Copeland saying JJs would sweep Perth during the week..... and Perth win with an ice cold Cotton.

Yesterday it was FIBA, today it is NBA.

The NBL was never going to let the Hawks and Jack jumpers win.
This is a business that relies on returns and Perth and Melbourne will provide a much much better return.
A Tassie / Hawks final will be a financial disaster.
Thats all it is, a business and the referees are company men

To be fair i dont think anyone would have predicted Pinder hitting 5 three pointers.

But the boneheads actually iced the game for the cats. Tai and Ush were huge in the last 5 minutes with Bryce nullified.

Hadn't realized how biased Santa is, agree with others above no home cooking for Perth. Pinder being used as a punching bag, thought JJs were allowed to get away with some border line dirty play toinight.

Over a good game, to many soft fouls called and some blatant missed. The best thing about the game is the best side on the night won. I'm a little surprised that Perth could actually slug it out with JJs. Going to be very interesting on Monday night.

"Cotton scores 35 and Cats are a chance otherwise JJ's by 10"

@Dunkman :)

Agreed. When the Jackies got the game on their tempo and it became a half court slog the cats defense and rebounding was very good. Both teams missed some open looks but perth with some missed layups i thought would cost them in the end

Yesterday it was a hard foul call and today it was a soft foul call. If MU had received foul calls yesterday like today, they would have had 30 fouls in the first half. You can think of these as different leagues. Consistency is lacking.

@MaxM, I was only 20 out, I still thought Cotton was very good.

To be fair i dont think anyone would have predicted Pinder hitting 5 three pointers.

But the boneheads actually iced the game for the cats. Tai and Ush were huge in the last 5 minutes with Bryce nullified.

Pinder's five triples and the free throws (Perth 29/32, Tas 12/19) were the difference in this game. Roth tried to pre-empt this with his radio comments but was unsuccessful.

Overall a super game, great adjustments and lots of big plays, can't wait for Monday.

Perth got it done when it mattered - respect. Good play off basketball.

Doyle was completely off his game and McVeigh sat for ages with foul trouble. As we got deep into the last quarter, Perth started getting all the calls with the crowd getting involved.

Defense on Cotton was superb.

That's a great result for United. RAC Arena holds no fear for Melbourne, and they'll put similar pressure on Cotton to what the JJ's did last night. JJ's are United's nightmare opponent.

Cotton was well contained but he remains elite at drawing attention and getting defenses into scramble mode. The rest of the guys did what they needed to do and knocked them down. Well, mostly. A few less missed layups would have kept the stress levels a bit lower.

Liked Perth's work on the boards at both ends. Not a battle we usually break even in.

LOL @PW but we must keep the faith. Fools gold or not their defense and rebounding was back to where it was during their win streak and they match up well against United (if they both get through). Yes there are the usual suspects making low IQ plays at crucial moments and flexing too hard and losing focus. But what they do well is very good and if they can channel their emotions the right way then you never know ;)

For sure, if they're going to go all the way it may as well be now as I don't think it will be this open in seasons to come.