Doolittle does plenty as Perth see off Cairns

Kristian Doolittle stepped up as the Perth Wildcats spluttered home against a misfiring Cairns Taipans to strengthen their hold on second spot during a sapping NBL road trip.

Fresh off a physical overtime loss on Saturday in Melbourne, the Wildcats made the most of the host's poor shooting close to the rim in a 105-102 victory on Boxing Day.

Perth led for the entire game but had to defy a late rally from Cairns, who cut the lead from as many as 15 points to just one to ensure a tense final 75 seconds.

Bryce Cotton, who played all 45 minutes against United, was typically irrepressible with 33 points while Doolittle (17 points, 16 rebounds) stood tall with the game on the line in the second half.

Ahead of a game in Adelaide on Thursday it pushed Perth (10-7) clear of Tasmania (10-8) in second, while Cairns (8-10) cling to sixth on a congested ladder.

The Taipans made just 2-of-15 shots inside the arc in the first quarter, while hitting three of six triples.

It improved marginally (eight of 28) by half-time and they trailed by 11.

The lead was immediately cut to six but Perth responded through Doolittle and then Cotton, who hit a three-pointer to boost the lead back to 14 points.

Next Star Bobi Klintman (24 points, seven rebounds) scored Cairns' next seven points in an entertaining cameo but Perth still carried a nine-point lead into the final term.

Five early turnovers to begin the fourth quarter then hurt Cairns, who still got within one point with just over one minute to play.

An offensive foul by Cotton then gave Cairns possession with 55 seconds to go, but Patrick Miller's (18 points, seven assists) long two-pointer hit the rim and former Taipan Keanu Pinder's (14 points, nine rebounds) lay-up at the other end was awarded due to a Cairns goal-tend

Bul Kuol's contested triple then missed everything but there was one final twist when Cotton lost possession and Cairns again cut the lead to one.

The Perth star settled to drill both free throws from the next possession before Sam Waardenburg's triple to tie the game from the final play rimmed out. 

It led to a 12th Perth win from their last 14 games against Cairns and an eighth from their last 10 games.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 12

CAIRNS TAIPANS 102 (Klintman 24, Miller 18, McCall 17)

PERTH WILDCATS 105 (Cotton 33, Doolittle 17, Pinder 14)

BOX SCORE