Rillie hails depth as Wildcats win short-handed

The Perth Wildcats were without two key starters but still made it three straight home wins on Friday night, and there's more help on the way, with Brandon Knight close to debuting, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr on the mend and Jaron Rillie back on the floor.

Knight, the NBA-experienced point guard who arrived this week only to fall ill, sat out alongside star centre Lual-Acuil Jr as the Wildcats hosted the South East Melbourne Phoenix at RAC Arena.

But they produced a strong showing for the 92-88 win to make it three in a row and improve to 3-1, with plenty of growth still to come.

Coach John Rillie summed it up as a good team win, and while there were some impressive statistical performances from Elijah Pepper (25 points, three rebounds, two assists), Kristian Doolittle (22 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) and Anthony Dell'Orso (22 points), other contributions stood out.

"It was a great team win and we stayed with it especially after the way we finished last time against them so there's good growth there," Rillie said.

"We had contributors in big moments all over the place tonight and a couple that come to mind are Angus Brandt's tip-in and Jimmy Whitt's blocked shot.

"Those little things equate to allowing the other guys to do what they do out on the floor."

Knight, the import point guard with 451 games of NBA experience, landed in Australia for the first time on Wednesday, but it hasn't been the welcome he'd hoped for after going down with a bout of food poisoning.

Rillie is now glad to have eight days before their next game, against the New Zealand Breakers also at home, to get him ready.

"Well, he's had a quick introduction to Australia and the health care system but our goal is to have him ready for the next game," Rillie said.

"But I'm certainly gonna be mindful of putting him in a position where he can be successful. This group's doing a great job and the little bit of time I spent with him, he's got a great approach to all of this.

"So it's about how we are setting him up for success but the team up for success as well."

Friday night also saw Jaron Rillie make his first appearance of the season, with his minutes capped at 10.

He played nine minutes, all in the first half, and dished out a couple of assists, and his father is glad to have him back available.

"That's all he could play tonight," his dad and coach said.

"The way we handled the whole game, we had a nice tempo and pace, but when he comes out on the floor, there's a confidence about how he goes about it and the shot quality we got when he was out there.

"It's something that he certainly will get confidence from and build on, and our team will and we're evolving."