Perth Wildcats have an eye on second spot and know a big NBL win over Adelaide 36ers can help that to happen

Perth Wildcats will look to maximise any opportunity they can find to increase their percentage if they get into a winning position against Adelaide on Friday night to give themselves the chance to finish the season in second spot. The Wildcats will guarantee they can’t finish lower than third if they beat the 36ers at RAC Arena, but victory will also draw them level with Melbourne United on 18 wins. Melbourne will play the last game of the regular season on Saturday when they confront crosstown rivals South East Melbourne Phoenix. United lost the last match between the teams by 12 points after dropping the game in October by nine points. Perth are currently 1.16 per cent behind United and it’s expected to take an overall swing of about 30 points between both results to lift the Wildcats above Melbourne. Import Dylan Windler said his team just had to do whatever they can to win by as much as possible. “We’re going to try to win and win by as much as we can.,” he said. “That’s always a factor in every game with this league with the points differential. You’re trying to beat people by as many as you can. It’s going to come into play late in the season. All of these games in the last round always matter. The points end up mattering for a placement. We’re going to try and win, and win by as much as we can.” The difference between second and third will be massive. Second spot will guarantee the Wildcats a semi-final berth where they will play at RAC Arena. Third spot will result in them entering the play-in tournament and having to move the first match to Perth High Performance Centre given RAC Arena is booked for Kylie Minogue’s concert. Windler admitted he’d never heard of Minogue and said his team remains focused on getting the best result on Friday. This season is the first time Windler has experienced percentage being used to determine ladder positions when teams are locked on the same number of wins. Most competitions rely on the in-season results between the teams that are tied to determine which one is placed higher. “Obviously late in games you are still trying to score no matter what - that’s the biggest difference. In other leagues you hold the ball once you know you’ve secured the win,” Windler said. “Over the course of 30 games, a few buckets late in games add up over time.”