In an absolute thriller in Hobart, the JackJumpers returned serve against the Perth Wildcats 102-94 after losing game one.

Having trailed by 12 points in the first quarter, the JackJumpers relied on the offensive prowess of American Milton Doyle (24 points, six rebounds) and South Australian Jack McVeigh (22 points, five rebounds) to ensure a third game in the semi-final series.

Majok Deng (18 points, five rebounds) played his best game in a JackJumpers singlet, while Bryce Cotton was at his brilliant best for the Wildcats as he finished with a game-high 26 points.

Doyle, who doubled his scoring tally from game one, described what he felt was working for him.

"It felt great seeing the ball go in, I think it's a big difference for me that if I get a couple to go in, it's easy for me to get into the paint and facilitate for other guys," he said.

While for JackJumpers coach Scott Roth, he believed the performances off the bench from Sean Macdonald and Deng - whose minutes increased with Marcus Lee out suspended - were crucial to the result.

"(Macdonald) is our next star, we've invested heavily in him and our coaches have done a wonderful job, but all credit goes to Sean," Roth said.

"He's just thriving in this environment ... and he's morphed into just a heck of a player for us.

"We have a lot of guys that allow us to function, but Majok Deng was a huge factor tonight, super proud of him.

"I saw the rehab and all the work he did to try to be ready if his number was called and tonight he did a wonderful job for us."

While speaking on behalf of the visitors, Wildcats forward Kristian Doolittle summed up his feelings succinctly when asked to give his reaction to the result.

"We lost," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Their season was on the line and they stepped up and we've got to be ready to do the same when we go back to Perth."

Coach John Rillie agreed, crediting the home side for making the big moments count.

"The other night we made the plays, tonight they made the plays," he summarised.

"I've got to watch the game, [I'm a] little emotional about it right now, but I do think we got some good looks and we didn't capitalise.

"They did and we did the opposite in game one so as I keep saying, it's two great teams trying to fight their way to the grand final."

Game three in Perth begins at 9.30pm eastern daylight savings time.

A familiar position for the JackJumpers, the franchise faced elimination semi-final contests at home in the last two seasons and came out on top on both occasions.

But initially Perth looked like a different prospect as their stifling defence and fearless driving to the rim allowing them to race out to a 8-2 lead.

Two early fouls for the home side indicated there could be the same troubles that have plagued Tasmania all season and it took Cotton just three minutes to do what he couldn't all through game one - score a three-pointer.

Will Magnay provided some early offence for the JackJumpers as the scrappy affair began to heat up.

Starting with an unsportsmanlike foul from Doyle, the crowd made their feelings known as Cotton and Anthony Drmic found themselves in multiple tussles.

But the constant remaining throughout the opening quarter was the Wildcats shooting free-throws, converting 10 out of 14 compared to one from one down the other end.

Despite the dysfunctional defence, consecutive triples from Macdonald and Deng to finish the term kept the home side to just an eight-point deficit.

Coming out of the first break with more discipline, Tasmania closed to within five but soon returned to old habits to the delight of Doolittle, who was the first in the game to reach double figures.

McVeigh continued his hot home form, racking up 13 first-half points as he looked take his streak of games with 20 or more points at Derwent Entertainment Centre to five in a row.

And just like the first, the JackJumpers finished the second term with a three, this time skipper Clint Steindl reduced the deficit to five.

McVeigh remained energetic in the second half, and despite Cotton's best efforts, Tasmania closed in on levelling the scores for the first time since the opening possession.

Doyle's third from deep made it 64 apiece, before he nailed two free-throws to put the JackJumpers in the lead for the first time.

Maintaining it as they started the fourth quarter, the home side were buoyed by the sell-out crowd as they began to attack the basket.

Loud all night, there perhaps has never been a bigger roar from a crowd in Hobart than when Steindl hit his second three of the game to give the JackJumpers a seven-point lead.

Keanu Pinder, who had been struggling to stay on the court all night, fouled out on the other side of a Perth timeout to further increase the Ant Army's optimism.

From there the JackJumpers turned the tables on the free-throw count as they returned to the line again and again as the visitors struggled to close the gap.

Once Macdonald knocked down the last free-throws to lift Tasmania's score into three figures, the match was all but over, with both sides faced with a win-or-go-home clash in Perth on Wednesday night.