"Live and learn": What the Wildcats will take from crazy defeat

The Perth Wildcats were just five minutes away from recording their biggest weekend of the year.

After defeating Melbourne United on Thursday, Perth led 90-74 with 5.10 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, and seemed destined to record victory over the NBL's top two sides in a matter of days.

But Bryce Cotton and his 36ers had different ideas.

The visitors scored 21 of the last 25 points, including a late driving lay-up by Flynn Cameron to secure the memorable win.

"Whoever's writing the script for this is probably loving what they're seeing," Wildcats coach John Rillie said in the post-game press conference.

Rillie went on to discuss exactly where it all went wrong for the hosts down the stretch.

"I just felt like we got bogged down a little bit versus just playing with pace, momentum, and just taking what they gave us,” Rillie said.

“We got just like too much middle ball and waited for the clock to run down, versus playing with a nice pace as we did for the first 30 to 35 minutes.

‍”We're evolving in that area [offence] because for the last nine years, this club's known what's going on in that point of the game [with Bryce Cotton at the helm].

“But I like the way it could be a number of guys [for us now on offence].”

Despite the loss, Rillie has taken plenty of positives away from the result and the weekend’s performances.

“What I don't want to get lost in this is in the space of four days, we played the top two teams,” he said.

“Although we're not there yet, we’re knocking on the door.

“I talked to the team about life, let alone basketball life, has moments where you get tested, and this is going to be a moment where we can learn and move forward.

“I'm very comfortable and confident that will happen because this team has shown great resolve as we're moving through the season.

“You live and learn, and you move on, and I look forward to the next time we're in this situation and how we handle it.”

The Wildcats, who are 9-7 on the season, next host Sydney on Friday night from 9.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.