Coach Andrew Gaze is well aware the Sydney Kings' NBL fortunes this season will largely rest on navigating a busy schedule over the next month.
The Kings, who have played the equal-least number of matches this campaign (nine), will begin a seven-match December stretch on Thursday night against visiting ladder leaders Perth.
Coming off their 82-84 loss to Melbourne, Gaze was confident his Kings could rebuild their third-place buffer on fellow five-win teams Brisbane and Adelaide.
"We've got some catching up to do and hopefully we're catching up with wins," he said on Tuesday.
"We've got more than half our season ... coming up in the next eight-nine weeks. It's going to be a busy time for us."
Gaze said the international break had come at the perfect time, gifting the Kings a clean bill of health to attack the December-January period.
"Maybe the hoop gods are smiling upon us right now because you think about what a lot of the other teams have had to go through with some of the injuries, particularly Perth," he said.
"It's been extraordinary the injuries they've had to face but, to their credit, they have not missed a beat."
Gaze cheekily urged Perth counterpart Trevor Gleeson to wait until after their clash at Qudos Bank Arena to bring back injured star Bryce Cotton (thumb) and captain Damian Martin (calf).
"My advice to Trevor Gleeson is if he wants to confuse us, don't play them because we have prepared as if they are all there," he said with a smile.
"They're 10 (wins) and one (loss). Wouldn't it be unfortunate if they rushed Bryce back and he re-hurt his thumb?
"That would be a disaster and really not worth the risk."
Reigning NBL MVP Cotton trained on Monday and will jet into Sydney with his Wildcats teammates on Tuesday before the team confirms his status.
However, the big man match-up between NBA champion Andrew Bogut and Wildcats centre Angus Brandt looms as critical to the contest.
Brandt, who missed the Boomers' back-to-back World Cup qualifier wins, was on a minutes restriction during Perth's home win over New Zealand as he returned from an ankle injury.
Regardless of the fitness of Perth's trio, Gaze is under no illusion as to the scale of the task confronting his side.
"Perth are going to be a really tough proposition for us," he said.
