Perth has come into Far North Queensland and stolen the show in a grinded out victory over Cairns.

It wasn’t a pretty display from either team offensively, but the Wildcats ultimately got it done when it mattered most, winning 80-77 in a thrilling contest at Cairns Convention Centre

It was their star center Jo Lual-Acuil Jr that set the tone early, with 10 points in the opening term.

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Much has been made of the start to the season that Lual-Acuil has been having, with both Adam Forde and Jack McVeigh mentioning him as a player they would have to gameplan for.

And early it looked as though JLA was going to have his way, as he put up 16 points in the first half.

“Our defence is doing a really good job of keeping us in games while we still work some things out on the offensive end,” Wildcats coach John Rillie.

“I think we did a good job when they got their noses in front of staying composed in those moments.”

The Taipans have had trouble defending bigs so far this season, with Brisbane’s Tyrell Harrison and Adelaide’s Isaac Humphrey both having big nights in Cairns.

But the Snakes seemed to have the answer in the second half, with the 213cm journeyman barely sighted in the scorebooks in the third term.

Much of that can be put down to the discipline of Marcus Lee, whose struggles with foul trouble have been noted throughout the season thus far.

“We knew JLA was going to be a tough cover,” Forde said.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr of the Wildcats drives up court under pressure from Marcus Lee of the Taipans. Picture: Emily Barker/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

“One of the things we said was that we needed Marcus out on the court, the best ability is availability.

“I think he was hard done by with a couple of calls, but he was great, and we need him to be with Waardenburg out for this stretch.”

However, the big man from WA came alive when it mattered most, hitting a huge running hook shot to give his side the lead with less than two minutes remaining.

He then nailed a pair of clutch free throws to extend the margin to two possessions.

But his biggest moment of the night came with just 12 seconds remaining, as he tipped in a Dylan Windler miss to keep his side four points ahead.

Taipans import Andrew Andrews had an impressive display in the defeat, nailing some timely threes – including a four-point play midway through the fourth – that kept the game within reach.

He was a true three-level scorer, able to penetrate off the dribble and use screens from his bigs, including drawing a huge pair of free throws with just over a minute remaining to trim the margin back to two.

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He finished with 21 points on the night in what was the Taipans best showing despite him missing the tying shot at the buzzer.

The Taipans have been the most three-point-happy team in the NBL this season, getting up 31.5 attempts per game from beyond the arc.

They struggled to capitalise on those looks in the first half, as apart from Admiral Schofield (3/6) the team shot a combined 2/13 from distance.

The Wildcats were even less efficient during that period, hitting on just one of their 10 attempts, but were comparatively far more efficient on the interior.

Those figures worsened to 1/14 by the end of the third term.

After giving fans an early glimpse in the preseason, Taipans coach Adam Forde rikked out his ‘Point Statt’ lineup, with Kody Stattman taking the role as the initial distributor for several minutes.

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The results weren’t glittering with both Reyne Smith and Andrew Andrews on the bench, but Cairns at the very least kept pace with their Perth opponents.

If nothing else it gives Forde some additional flexibility in case of injury, foul trouble, or in situational play.

“It’s a step-by-step process, we didn’t go back to him in the second half because we thought we could get a bit more offense with Kyle (Adnam),” Forde said.

“It’s a work in progress with Kody, when the defence tries to speed you up and you’re coming off an on-ball, one pass offense is not what we’re trying to get to.

“The responsibility of the point guard is to make sure the ball gets through some hands and ends up where we want it to end up.”