Leave it to the always-upbeat Andrew Gaze to find a silver lining in his team's gloomy finals prospects.
Speaking after Thursday night's 81-72 home win over Cairns, the Sydney Kings coach remained typically optimistic, despite losing forward Todd Blanchfield to concussion and concerns over import Perry Ellis's shoulder injury.
Blanchfield will miss Saturday's rematch with the Taipans in Cairns and Ellis is doubtful.
"The good thing is that (injured captain) Kevin (Lisch) is coming back soon, so there's light at the end of the tunnel," Gaze said.
"Todd's in a bad way. He's definitely not able to get on a plane and won't be playing on Saturday.
"Perry's not in a good way either. He tried to push through to his credit but he wasn't himself and he'll have tests on the shoulder to see what damage there is."
The Kings' record stands at 3-9. They need to win about 12 of their final 16 games to be any chance of clinching a final four spot.
"We understand the road ahead and the challenges we face," a smiling Gaze said.
"We're looking forward to what lies ahead.
"As I said to the guys, you've gotta have that belief. No-one believes in us but everybody in that locker room believes."
Sydney dominated the opening two quarters against Cairns to lead 51-32 at halftime.
They fell asleep in the third period before 2016-17 NBL MVP Jerome Randle hit clutch shots to sink the Taipans.
"You see glimpses of what we can do when we're executing at both ends of the floor," Gaze said.
"It makes it fun and presents some very difficult challenges for our opponents.
"The Taipans have won five of 12 games and are missing key players Nathan Jawai, Michael Carrera and Stephen Weigh.
"We're without players right now and we'll keep fighting and I'm proud of the guys for that," Cairns coach Aaron Fearne said.
Both teams fly to Cairns on Friday morning.
