Wildcats need to be on-point in Game Three

UPDATE 25 June 12.45pm WST

Perth Wildcats pair Luke Travers and Clint Steindl will both suit up for Grand Final Game Three tonight in Melbourne.

Travers missed Game One and Two with a calf injury, while Steindl missed Game Two after injuring his groin in Game One.

ORIGINAL

Staying “on-point” has been a focus of the Perth Wildcats as it heads into the do-or-die Game Three of the 2021 NBL Grand Final.

Down 0-2 in the best-of-three series, coaches and players say their only a few details off extending the series.

“I love our heart, how we’re playing, the pride and passion has been first class,” said Trevor Gleeson.

“But we’ve got to be on-point. We gave up points through a number of breakdowns on easy defence, and that’s something we have to fix.

“Also, we need to move the ball a lot more than we did. It got stagnant on one side and we got bogged down.”

Wing Todd Blanchfield agreed.

“We lost that first game by one possession, and it’s playoff basketball, that’s what it comes down to, one or two possessions,” he said.

“There’s been a few breakdowns on our behalf, and that’s what we mean by coming out on-point. We have to come out, lock into our scout, and we have to be ready.

“Whatever game plan we put in place, we have to come out and execute that… We need to make them try beat us from where they’re uncomfortable.”

Despite falling in Game One and Two, the Perth Wildcats have led for the majority of the series so far, being in front for more than 41 minutes.

However, Perth have never held a fourth quarter lead, with Melbourne holding the advantage for the last 13:30 of Game One and 18 minutes of Game Two.

Melbourne were kept to just 57 field goal attempts in Game Two which is the lowest shots by any team in any game this season.

John Cain Arena will be at 50 per cent capacity on Friday night as Victoria eases its COVID restrictions.

Tip-off is at 5.30pm WA time.

Watch live on ESPN and SBS VICELAND.