Areas of frustration override Rillie's pride

John Rillie has been here before, proud of his team but frustrated after a critical Playoffs loss.

While he admired the fight from his Perth Wildcats in their Game 1 defeat to the Sydney Kings, he knows honourable losses offer little comfort.

The Wildcats were forced to accept a painful Game 3 Playoffs loss to Melbourne United last season despite feeling hard done by by several late calls.

That memory lingered this week.

Rillie attempted to contact the league on Monday, hoping to clarify how the series against Sydney would be officiated. His call went unanswered on the eastern states public holiday.

Then came a moment at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday night.

A hooking foul was called against Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, one of the exact situations Rillie had hoped to gain clarity on beforehand. He held his composure during the game, but his frustration was clear after Perth’s heartbreaking one point loss.

Kristian Doolittle had the chance to win it late, but his final shot missed despite a dominant performance that produced 31 points, including 27 in the second half.

"Where there's a level of disappointment is that we've all watched the Playoffs, right, and each game gets reffed a little differently," Rillie said.

"I tried to reach out to the league on Monday and I couldn’t get a return call, I'm trying to being a professional here right, and I wanted to understand and I kid you not, they called JLA for a hooking foul right.

"If that's a foul, there has to be that consistency throughout the game and that wasn’t there, and that's all I want to know is how we're going to be officiated so that I understand."

Despite the result, Rillie found plenty to like.

Perth handled Sydney’s defensive pressure well and limited Kendric Davis for long stretches, particularly before half time.

Several key players delivered strong performances. Doolittle starred, while Lual-Acuil Jr added 19 points and 12 rebounds. David Duke Jr contributed 20 points and eight assists, and Dylan Windler finished with 17 points and four assists.

The Wildcats controlled much of the first half before conceding the final eight points before the break to trail by four.

They also dominated the offensive glass, finishing with 20 offensive rebounds to Sydney’s nine.

However, a handful of crucial boards conceded late are the moments Rillie will reflect on.

"The way we competed for 40 minutes, I'm very proud of our group with that, but if we want to take the next step I think of moments in the first half with the way we ended both quarters," Rillie said.

"Or Kouat Noi on the offensive glass, seizing those opportunities in these type of games, that's when you can really put your imprint on it, but when you play the way we did, there's just moments that can rear its heads in games like that.

"We're a confident group and we know who we are, and we're OK with that, and it looks ugly in moment, but we fight through and we persevere, and when we play good and our defence creates some offence for us, we're a really good team."

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Perth also suffered an injury scare in the final moments.

As the Wildcats chased a tip in on the last possession, Windler was among the players contesting at the rim. He later needed help to reach the locker room.

The forward has been managing plantar fasciitis for much of the back end of the season.

Rillie hopes the issue was only a flare up and not something that will sideline him for Saturday’s Game 2.

"He's been managing that really well over the last X amount of time," Rillie said.

"In a game like that, someone's going to be really banged up and hopefully it's not too bad and he's done a great job at managing it so hopefully he'll be able to get back for Saturday."

Game 2 tips off at 8pm AEDT on Saturday night, live on ESPN.