Wildcats sweat on two stars for Breakers clash

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr looks set to miss a second straight game, with Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie conceding it will be tough for the star centre to be ready for Saturday night's clash with the New Zealand Breakers.

A calf injury kept Lual-Acuil Jr out of last Friday's win over South East Melbourne, and the Wildcats won't rush their big man back.

"It's a little tough for Jo to be ready for this week," Rillie told 9 News Perth.

"He's diligently working on his calf and a return to play soon, but this week will be tough."

Import point guard Brandon Knight had been slated to debut against the Breakers, but Rillie said the club would take a conservative approach.

Knight trained with the team for the first time on Tuesday after arriving in Perth last week, having battled a bout of food poisoning since landing in the country.

"Brandon Knight had his first practice with the team today," Rillie said.

"Looking good, but we also want to set him up for success towards the rest of the season, so we'll see how he gets through the rest of the week."

The Wildcats have shown they can cope without both, making it three straight wins on Friday behind 25 points from Elijah Pepper and 22 apiece from Anthony Dell'Orso and Kristian Doolittle, while Jaron Rillie returned from injury for nine minutes off the bench.

Perth heads into Round 4 with a 3-1 record and hosts the Breakers at RAC Arena on Saturday night.