The Perth Wildcats seem to be hitting their straps at the pointy end of the season.
Their 31-point win over the Brisbane Bullets at Perth Arena on Friday night was their biggest of the season, their second in a row and their third from four outings.
In round 12, their season looked doomed, but an away win over Cairns on Sunday could secure them a 31st consecutive finals appearance.
The Bullets may have been depleted by injuries to key players on Friday night - Adam Gibson, Anthony Petrie and Cameron Bairstow - but as far as Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson is concerned, the result capped off a good week for the club.
"I thought that was four solid quarters of basketball for us," Gleeson said after the 94-63 win.
"Our preparation this week was spot on. We had a great practice on Wednesday and Thursday. They were probably our two best practices for the year.
"And to carry that over with the bright lights on is good for us.
"Our preparation, our dotting the 'i's', our scout - we're in the right frame of mind for the right time of the year."
Making the coach even happier was guard Bryce Cotton hitting form, with five three-pointers, from six attempts, while veteran Greg Hire duplicated that effort in his season high tally of 20.
"Just the way he has been practising and shooting the ball, I thought (Greg) might have had a bit of a breakout (last week)," Gleeson said.
"We don't want Casey (Prather) and Bryce shooting it every time down the floor.
"We want to make sure we find the open man and those guys have to have the confidence to shoot it."
"That's what you want from the bench.
"The starters got us off on a right note and the bench guys come on to finish the first quarter and get us out to (nine) points."
The Wildcats bench contributed 48 points (to the Bullets 19), including two long shots from Jarrod Kenny and nine points from Jesse Wagstaff.
The reigning premiers have been quietly building momentum for the past 10 games, having won six of those encounters.
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