In Round 9 of the NBL, we are starting to see some separation between the top teams and the bottom teams. The Sydney Kings are now on a roll as they got their fourth straight win, while Bryce Cotton continues his strong MVP case as he helps Adelaide to two wins.

The round started on Wednesday Night for an Ignite Cup matchup between the Brisbane Bullets and the New Zealand Breakers. The Breakers dominated this game from the jump as they defeated Brisbane 113-84.

Sam Mennenga was the star for the Breakers on the night as he scored 25 points to pair with his six rebounds. The unfortunate news to come out of the game was that Bullets star Casey Prather is ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

On Thursday night action, Zylan Cheatham and the Adelaide 36ers showcased their dominance in an 11-point victory against the Tasmania JackJumpers.

As mentioned, Cheatham led the way in this game as he scored 27 points on 75% shooting, while grabbing 14 rebounds on the night. Dejan Vasilijevic had a good game in his first game off the bench as he put in 14 points in 16 minutes.

The South East Melbourne Phoenix visited the Cairns Taipans in the only matchup on Friday night. The Phoenix bounced back after their last loss as they defeated the Taipans 101-90.

Spark plug, Angus Glover was best on the night as he scored 24 points in 25 minutes off the bench, which also included six made threes. Phoenix had multiple players who contributed on the night as they had five more players score double digits.

The double header on Saturday night started with ladder leaders Melbourne United defeating the Brisbane Bullets with a 99-93 victory. United were in control all night despite a late comeback by the Bullets.

Milton Doyle led the way with a big-time game of 28 points, while he also had some more help with another five players scoring in double figures.

The second game of the night had the Perth Wildcats have their first action of the round, as they defeated the New Zealand Breakers quite easily with a 13-point victory.

Kristian Doolittle was the Wildcats' best once again as he got a big-time double-double with his 24 points and 14 rebounds. David Okwera was also great off the bench as he scored 14 points in 15 minutes.

On Sunday, we had another double header to end round nine, which started with the Sydney Kings dominating the Illawarra Hawks to secure their fourth straight victory.

The Kings had a very well-rounded team performance, but it was headlined by star Xavier Cooks as he had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kendric Davis also added 17 points and eight assists.

The last game of the round was the best contest as Adelaide defeated the Taipans by four points, in an absolute shootout between Bryce Cotton and Jack McVeigh.

Bryce Cotton gave us more reason to give him another MVP as he scored an amazing 41 points while also adding eight assists. Jack McVeigh, on the other hand, had 39 points along with his eight rebounds and seven assists.

After round nine, teams are starting to cement themselves as the better teams in the league, which includes United, Phoenix, 36ers, Sydney and Perth. Round 10 will kick off on Wednesday night with a great Ignite Cup matchup of Adelaide 36ers against the Illawarra Hawks.