Syked up - Phoenix's month-long road trip ends with toughest tests

South East Melbourne Phoenix have been on the road and living in hotels since New Year's Day, but face NBL21's two undefeated teams before they return to home comforts.

Keifer Sykes Source: AAP

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Phoenix take on Perth Wildcats tonight before the hotly-anticipated Throwdown V against Melbourne United on Sunday.

It's the second time in a week they face defending NBL champions Perth, coming off a 88-76 loss last time out, but they had almost the exact same shooting percentage, just less of the ball - and if has Keifer Sykes now has the measure of Bryce Cotton they will be confident.

The main things to improve upon are the 16 offensive rebounds registered by the Wildcats (leading to 13 second chance points) while Phoenix's 20 turnovers led to 26 points against them.

A lot of responsibility lies with Sykes as he prepares to go toe-to-toe with two-time MVP Bryce Cotton again.

Sykes was excellent in round 2, with his 24 points and eight assists plus 4/7 from downtown leading the Phoenix to victory over Adelaide 36ers.

He was fired up for the opportunity to shut down Cotton last weekend, but it wasn't to be and he ended up having a rough night at both ends. South East Melbourne badly need him to bounce back.

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell, looking for his first win over the Wildcats, says he knows what his side needs.

"There was a lot of self-inflicted wounds that were performed during the course of the game (on Sunday), myself included," Mitchell said.

"I thought our repeated turnovers were poor, repeated non box-outs were poor, and my job is to make sure those don’t happen and to stop it in its tracks.

"I feel like they’re two very fixable areas and despite the fact we were so poor in those areas, with 90 seconds to go we were still a chance.

"We just need improvement in those areas to put ourselves in a good position (in Friday’s rematch)."