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The Perth Wildcats have overcome a sluggish start to defeat Illawarra 92-84, leaving the Hawks still winless in their title defence.
Perth trailed by 14 points early in Thursday night’s open-air clash at their home RAC Arena before recovering brilliantly in the middle two quarters, which they dominated 34-23 and 23-13.
Biwali Bayles of the Hawks attempts to break clear down the court as Mason Jones of the Wildcats tries to stop him.Credit: Getty Images
Illawarra’s ex-NBA superstar Javale McGee (26 points, 14 rebounds) shook off a knee injury scare to narrowly take the individual honours against Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (22, three rebounds) in the marquee match-up between the league’s two best centres.
Imports Kristian Doolittle (17 points, nine boards) and Dylan Windler (16, 14) were influential in Perth’s fightback, while Tyler Harvey scored 15 of his 19 points before half-time for Illawarra.
“I would like us to play a little bit better, but that will take some time, take some moments,” Wildcats coach John Rillie said.
“Our bench, at different points throughout the game, had pivotal plays for us.
“We’re finding an identity on defence.”
The Wildcats were ice-cold early, taking more than four minutes to register their first score and falling 20-6 in arrears, McGee’s rebounding and interior defence causing issues.
Perth went 3-of-16 from the floor and 0-of-9 from three-point range to trail 20-10 at the end of a physical opening quarter.
The gap was still double digits deep into the second term, before the Wildcats – led by Windler and Doolittle – found their range offensively, pressing the Hawks into regular error and indecision to take a 44-43 lead at half-time.
Lual-Acuil attacked McGee on the dribble in the third stanza as Perth built on their momentum.
Illawarra fans feared the worst when McGee, a 983-game NBA veteran and Olympic gold medallist, went down heavily clutching his right knee following a collision with Lual-Acuil.
The big man received treatment before returning after three minutes off, but his presence couldn’t prevent the Wildcats from steaming ahead 67-56 at three-quarter-time.
The gap ballooned to 17 points in the fourth before the Hawks saved some face late.
“Perth played well, we didn’t,” a terse Illawarra coach Justin Tatum said.
“Their effort plays were the difference – we didn’t match it.”
AAP
A teenage boy is fighting for life in hospital after receiving lacerations to his face, arm and body during a fight in the carpark of a fast food outlet in Canning Vale.
Police and St John were called to the scene at a Zambrero restaurant at a shopping centre on Ranford Road around 6.45pm on Thursday, after receiving reports of an altercation between a group of eight men.
A 16-year-old boy is in critical condition in hospital after a stabbing outside a Zambrero restaurant in Canning Vale.Credit: 9News Perth
It is alleged five young men were walking back to their vehicle and became involved in a verbal altercation with three other men who arrived at the location on e-scooters.
The altercation allegedly escalated and became physical and a 16-year-old boy was stabbed.
He was conveyed by ambulance to hospital for medical treatment where he remains in a critical condition.
A second victim, a 17-year-old boy, was sprayed in the face with what is believed to have been pepper spray and a third victim, an 18-year-old man, sustained a cut to his nose and irritation to his eyes.
A 19-year-old man from Canning Vale is in custody and has been charged with unlawful wounding using pepper spray and assault occasioning bodily harm.
He is due to appear before the Armadale Magistrates Court today.
The investigation is ongoing detectives have urged anyone with any information or vision relating to this incident to contact Crime Stoppers.
Here’s what’s making headlines today:
Police named Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, as the attacker.
Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Friday, October 3.
Making headlines today, WA Labor may rely on a “use it or lose it” clause in a 12-year-old multimillion-dollar Barnett government-era land sale to Crown Resorts to seize back a portion of land where it plans to build the southern hairpin of its Burswood racetrack.
But questions remain over whether the Cook government could fulfil its promise that it would not spend any money on the land.
Find out more here.
A noise survey of the Burswood racetrack.Credit: EPA/government
And development approvals for housing across the state are on the decline, new figures show, as separate polling reveals 91 per cent of West Australians believe local councils are inefficient at approving new builds.
Polling from Amplify, in partnership with YouGov, also showed 22 per cent of respondents wanted to give the state government the power to override local councils and determine planning approval decisions in a bid to fix the housing crisis.
Read more here.
Stay with us for more news throughout the day.
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