Bryce Cotton was still Bryce Cotton, but key for Trevor Gleeson to the Adelaide 36ers bouncing back with a strong win was the strong contributions also from Keanu Rasmussen, Matt Kenyon, John Jenkins III, Zylan Cheatham and Nick Rakocevic.
The big thing that Gleeson has been calling for all season so far is for more players to step up to help his six-time MVP especially while the 36ers are doing without emerging superstar Flynn Cameron.
Rakocevic is one player who has stepped up all the way through, Cheatham has been more aggressive since a rough outing against the Breakers last time, and the form and impact of Rasmussen and Jenkins has fluctuated.
That's no great surprise with Rasmussen still finding his feet in the NBL, but Jenkins at times hasn't made himself enough of an offensive threat despite his lethal shooting and scoring skills.
But on Friday night, it came together for the Sixers with Cotton still at his usual level with 31 points and six assists including 13 fourth-quarter points, but he got plenty of help.
Jenkins scored 21 points, Cheatham 17 (seven rebounds), Rakocevic 17 (11 rebounds, five assists), Rasmussen nine and then Kenyon did a brilliant defensive job on Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
"Yeah and we need that," Gleeson said.
"When you've got four guys in double figures and Keanu was close to double figures, and probably hit the last five points of the game, that's what we need.
"Especially when Bryce gets so much attention for trapping, and we have to start to be more team-oriented.
"Obviously we want Bryce to shoot the most in our team, but we've also got to play and build that. So I'm happy and I love that pass out from Nick out to Keanu in the corner to get an open three that probably sealed the game for us."
Cheatham enjoyed his return to Auckland to get the win against the Breakers, but he now immediately turned his focus to Sunday where the 36ers return to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre for the first time since October 7.
They lost their last two games at home too against the Breakers and Melbourne United so he can't wait to be back there on Sunday against the Brisbane Bullets.
"That was a big point of emphasis in our pre-game speech is like we've had this four-game away stand, and can we close it out the right way and get back home," Cheatham said.
"We're definitely hyped about it and we've got the best fans in the league, and I can't wait to sleep in my own bed, and wake up and get in my routine and stuff. Yeah, I'm definitely excited about it."
As for the others that stepped up for the Sixers against the Breakers, it was no surprise to see what Kenyon was able to do defensively.
He didn’t do it all alone guarding Jackson-Cartwright, but he was head of the attack on defence from the 36ers and did a tremendous job with the Breakers star ending up with just the nine points with three turnovers on 4/11 shooting.
It's not the first standout job Kenyon has done on a superstar guard this season including his effort in the win over Sydney where he helped limit Kendric Davis to 16 points on 6/19 shooting with four turnovers.
His importance was even more evident when he wasn’t there in last Saturday's loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix where the 36ers gave up 72 points in the first half with Gleeson glad to have such a defensive weapon.
"He gets the big assignments and the beautiful thing about him is that he's got the quickness of guarding a point guard, and he's got the length to guard like a three man," Gleeson said.
"We throw him around a little bit and that's exactly what his role needs to be on the team. He needs to be our best defender on the ball and providing energy, and he's doing that great. I love what he's doing for our team."
Another player that Gleeson wasn’t sure what he would get from this season but who continues to give him important minutes especially in the absence of Flynn Cameron is Rasmussen.
After averaging just 4.7 minutes last season, he had a standout campaign in the NZ NBL with the Hawkes Bay Hawks ahead of NBL27, and now is up to 17.4 minutes for 5.2 points and 2.1 assists.
He had another big part in Friday night's win including five points in the last minute that proved game clinching with a massive corner three and two free throws.
"I didn't know him from a bar of soap when I first got here," Gleeson said.
"You know, he worked hard in pre-season and just Flynn getting injured in the third quarter of the first game opened an opportunity.
"He really grabbed it with both hands, not only he's picking up some of the best players in the league and then making big shots down the end. So he's got great confidence and the guys have got a lot of confidence in him. He's doing a great job for us."