Kristian Doolittle stepped up as Perth spluttered home against a misfiring Cairns to strengthen their hold on second spot during their sapping NBL road trip.
Fresh off a physical overtime loss on Saturday in Melbourne, the Wildcats made the most of the host's poor shooting close to the rim in a 105-102 Tuesday victory.
Perth led comfortably from the early stages but had to defy a late rally from Cairns, who cut the lead from as much as 15 to just one to ensure a tense final 75 seconds.
Bryce Cotton, who played all 45 minutes against United, was typically irrepressible with 33 points while Doolittle (17 points, 16 rebounds) stood tall with the game on the line in the second half.
Ahead of a game in Adelaide on Thursday it pushed Perth (10-7) clear of Tasmania (10-8) in second, while Cairns (8-10) cling to sixth on a congested ladder.
"These are competitive dudes that feel there's something special brewing and they love to compete and get out there," Perth coach John Rillie said.
"It was better than watching nutcracker at Christmas, so I'm happy to move on."
Rillie said import forward Doolittle deserved more credit for his output, particularly in defence.
"That bamboozles me to some degree when we talk about all these other players as defensive player-of-the-year candidates," he said.
"This guy goes quietly about his business every night.
"It'd be nice if people watched a little closer."
The Taipans made just two-of-15 shots inside the arc in the first quarter, while hitting three of six triples.
It improved marginally (eight-of-28) by half-time and they trailed by 11.
The lead was immediately cut to six but Perth responded through Doolittle and then Cotton, who hit a three-pointer to boost the lead back to 14 points.
NBA prospect Bobi Klintmann (24 points, seven rebounds) scored Cairns' next seven points in an entertaining cameo but Perth still carried a nine-point lead into the final term.
Five early turnovers to begin the fourth quarter then hurt Cairns, who still got within one point with just over one minute to play.
Two poor possessions followed and it appeared the game was done, until an uncharacteristic Cotton turnover gifted the Taipans one last chance.
But Sam Waardenburg's triple to tie the game from the final play bounced out, sealing a 12th Perth win from their last 14 games against Cairns and an eighth from their last 10 games.
Taipans coach Adam Forde thought his team's effort to surge late was admirable but knew their first-quarter blues were costly.
"We missed some real easy ones at the start," he said.
"At least a half dozen didn't drop in our favour; they get the rebound, it speeds them up and they capitalised."
