A final quarter fade out cost Nick Kay's Perth Wildcats as they were beaten 91-84 by the Cairns Taipans in their NBL clash in Cairns on Saturday.
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Perth led the game for more than three-quarters before an avalanche of Taipans threes buried the reigning champs, who only managed 14 in the fourth to fall to their fourth loss of the season.
The Wildcats were without star Terrico White but Clint Steindl stepped up in his absence, draining five threes for 17 points.
Four of his triples came in the second quarter.
Kay was solid inside chipping in with a second-top 16 points to go with four rebounds and four assists, while Dario Hunt scored the majority of his 14 in the third quarter.
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"We had three great quarters and then didn't finish the game off. We were hesitant offensively, we got brittle and didn't want to make mistakes and our defence was horrendous. There was no pressure," Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said.
"We settled for jumpers, didn't cut to the basket, didn't put pressure on the rim and coming down the other way they hit some threes.
"We tried to fix it but obviously it wasn't to be."
The Wildcats now have eight days to turn it around, with their next game at home against Adelaide on Sunday.
