Nick Kay turned it on against his former side as a red-hot Perth Wildcats bounced back to form against the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Friday night.
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The defending champs put on a shooting clinic in the first half, shooting 54 per cent from field, and a stunning 12 of their first 20 attempts from three-point range en route to a 99-77 victory.
Kay was an instrumental figure with a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, to go with four assists and a steal.
The win comes at the tail of a tough stretch on the road for the second-placed Cats. Six of their last eight games they've been away.
Looking forward to six home games in the last seven, Kay said it's now "just about building".
"We've got six/seven games left and we really want to push for that finals and just be ready to go," he said speaking to the media after the game.
"It's a fun time of the year [with] finals just around the corner and it's about how you go into it and being as prepared as you can."
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He said there feels a lot of similarities to last season: they lost seven from eight during December and January before winning six of their last seven.
"Obviously it's a different team but you use previous years as a springboard and learning from those experiences of previous years," he said.
"I think Bryce (Cotton) said it last year, every game is a finals game leading into it."
"And I think when it comes down the stretch we're going to have to have the same attitude because it is such a tight competition and if you're not going in on the right foot it's going to be tough to generate momentum come that time of year."
The Cats kick-off their home run against the Melbourne Phoenix on Friday night.
