Perth Wildcats star Jo Lual-Acuil felt he let team down on Wednesday so dominated against Melbourne United

Perth Wildcats star Jo Lual-Acuil has declared his match-winning performance during his team’s 95-77 Play-In victory over Melbourne United at RAC Arena on Saturday was inspired by a feeling that he let his team down midweek against South East Melbourne Phoenix. The Wildcats beat United after fighting back from a poor start where they trailed by 11 points before dominating the second half to run away with the win. Lual-Acuil dominated with 28 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks against his former club. His effort came after Lual-Acuil played for only 17-and-a-half minutes against the Phoenix in the seeding qualifier after getting into early foul trouble. He had been determined to make up for that game to keep Perth’s season alive. “I kind of feel like I backed myself into a corner mentally coming into this game,” Lual-Acuil said. “I know I need to be out there for the team to be able to be successful. To speak as candidly as possible, I feel like I let the team down in the last game. I put a lot of pressure on myself to come here tonight and perform. “I like myself when I’m backed into a corner.” Perth’s big names all stepped up. Kristian Doolitle produced 24 points, seven rebounds, six rebounds and two steals. Dylan Windler had 18 points and nine rebounds, while David Duke turned the game when he came off the bench. Coach John Rillie was critical of the lack of contributors during the loss to South East Melbourne, but said everyone stepped up to the challenge against United. “You need your best players performing in different moments,” he said. “Jo had his moments, there was Doolittle obviously with how he started the game for us. Windler chipped away and while he battled with foul trouble, then he was huge in the fourth quarter. “He made some big shots and loud shots but defensively the effort of him, Duke and Henshall chasing their perimeter players around – to be able to play at both ends is the key at this time of the year. “You’re playing a good team at this moment so you need productivity at both ends. We had good contributions from everyone in required moments if you take away the second quarter.” Melbourne started the season brilliantly before struggling with injury and they experienced the same fate against Perth as sore players struggled to run out the game. The Wildcats will now face Sydney Kings in the semifinals with the opening game of the best-of-three series at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday night. The Wildcats will then host their game on Saturday. Sydney beat Perth by 22 points, 29 points and 18 points in their three clashes during the regular season, and finished on top of the ladder. Lual-Acuil was happy to once again be feeling backed into a corner. “They’ve already been crowned champions. We haven’t beaten them, so we have no chance,” he scoffed. “I will say that our group is very excited about playing Sydney. We’ll see how the series goes.”