The Brisbane Bullets have shrugged off the absence of two important players to outwork the Wildcats at their home RAC Arena in Perth and produce a performance full of heart for their 84-79 NBL win.
Both teams were 2-4 coming into Friday's match and on losing slides, but it was the Wildcats who had the pressure building, even with the Bullets being without key pair, the suspended Aron Baynes and injured Shannon Scott.
Brisbane scored the first seven points before opening up a 20-point lead in the third quarter and going on to win by five after holding out against a furious late charge from the home team.
The team effort of the Bullets was outstanding as they got another 17 points from captain Nathan Sobey.
Chris Smith put up 16 points, Josh Bannan 15 and Tyrell Harrison 12 to go with five rebounds and three blocks in just 14 minutes.
First-year Bullets coach Justin Schueller couldn't have been prouder of his team.
"It was a big game for us having dropped four, with two marquees out and we knew we had to come in here and play near a perfect game," he said.
"My initial thought is just pleasure in how the guys stuck to a plan, and found our advantages consistently throughout the night."
The Wildcats missed 18 of their first 19 three-point attempts before making a couple midway through the last quarter from Keanu Pinder, who finished with 22 points and five rebounds.
He was a lone shining light for a Wildcats team, who have lost four straight. Again, superstar Bryce Cotton struggled to 10 points and five assists on 3-of-19 shooting.
"My words during the week were that we're just not playing good, that showed again tonight," Perth coach John Rillie said.
"Our offence isn't functioning very good right now. We're doing a great job holding teams to scores where we could put enough points on the board to win, in saying that we're not doing that.
"That's certainly something we have to address and resolve here pretty quickly."
Brisbane, who were on a four-game losing streak, started with the game's first seven points and were still leading 20-9 by the end of the first quarter.
While the Wildcats had their moments in the second quarter, Brisbane did well to lead 42-36 at the long break.
It was 17-year-old Rocco Zikarsky who stood tall in the paint in the third quarter with Harrison in foul trouble.
Sobey and Smith then knocked down shots as the Bullets lead ballooned to 20.
The Wildcats did make a charge with a Pinder-inspired 11-0 run in the fourth to cut the deficit to three, but the Bullets answered with strong inside finishes from Harrison and Bannan to secure the win.
