Perth's sudden reliance on three-point shooting has alarmed coach Trevor Gleeson, who is calling for a greater work ethic in the lead-up to the NBL playoffs.
The Wildcats lost their league lead to the Sydney Kings after Sunday's 97-84 defeat to the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland.
It was the sixth defeat in their past eight games and was notable for an unwillingness to go inside, where Breakers centre Shawn Long reigned supreme.
Perth's 39 three-point attempts made up almost half of their total 82 field-goal shots and was the most the Wildcats had put up in any game for 17 years.
They sank a respectable 14 from outside the arc, including six-of-13 from Bryce Cotton, but Gleeson said the long-range approach wasn't part of the Perth playbook.
"That's too many threes. We're not spraying them up like that (again)," he said.
"We knew they were going to play zone but we didn't attack inside and out - we didn't have movement. We were stagnant on the perimeter.
"We were settling for a three rather than working hard for a two. I was really disappointed."
Cotton tallied 27 points in his return from a hamstring injury and American compatriot Terrico White managed 16. But the Breakers kept the rest of Perth's scorers in check to mount further pressure on a team who burst from the blocks this season with nine wins from 10.
Their slump has coincided with the annual run of mid-season road games forced on them by the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth.
Gleeson is relishing playing six of the last nine regular-season games at home but doesn't want his players getting comfortable about it.
"It'll be good to get home ... we have our playoff destiny in our hands. If we play well, we'll earn a position there.
"If we don't, we won't, because this league's too tough. We've got to get back to playing Wildcats basketball and we'll hang our hat on that."
Friday's game is against last-placed Cairns, the only team Perth have beaten since November 25.
