Faced with a raucous crowd, clad in red, rusted on by the loyalty that perennial success brings, the atmosphere in Perth is genuine rather manufactured by a marketing focus group.

The JackJumpers became the latest to attest to the intensity of the Red Army and the Wildcats as the visitors suffered their biggest defeat in their history 101-83 at RAC Arena.

Having notched three losses on the trot since that memorable season-opener in Hobart, the JackJumpers' first foray into the mainland shows signs it could slide off the track quickly.

Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky's contribution to pseudo-psychology was you miss 100 per cent of the shots you don't take but the JackJumpers' issue is they miss many shots they do take.

The crime scene may have been different from the Cairns Convention Centre but the crime remained the same as JackJumpers failed to find their radar from downtown shooting 6-27 at 22 per cent in contrast to the Wildcats' 10-25 at 40 per cent from the same range.

It levelled up slightly from the floor where the JackJumpers delivered 42 per cent compared to the Wildcats who shot at 51 per cent. Given the Wildcats pillaged Tasmania for rebounds all night (51 to 30), the visitors desperately needed those shots to fall.

"They thrive here on offensive rebounding and they thrive turnovers and we ended up flipping the ball a bit in the first-half, second-half we were a bit better in that area," JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.

It was always going to be an uphill battle given the last nine new teams to enter the NBL, had all tasted defeat in their first Perth game, since the West Sydney Razorbacks' win in 1998.

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Perth's Vic Law notched 17 points in the final term, including draining three consecutive three-pointers, on his way to 32 points for the game, which equalled the combined efforts of JackJumpers' Josh Magette (17 points) and Josh Adams (15 points).

Bryce Cotton (23 points) and Michael Frazier (13 points) joined the party, for 68 points between the trio, with the JackJumpers' slim "margin of error" as Roth terms it, was apparent.

"There's 35 years of great basketball here with the Wildcats and we have four weeks of basketball," Roth said.

"I thought we were around the nine or 11 point mark for a while but we just have not scored or shot the ball very well."

Perhaps one day, the JackJumpers will morph into a Perth clone with their own fortress. After experiencing it first-hand, they should now know what it takes to compete at the upper echelon of the NBL.

With five former Wildcats in the JackJumpers organisation, including Roth and captain Clint Steindl, they have plenty of people able to share their experience of the NBL's powerhouse.

"They've got history behind them and core players within their organisation that you bring new ones in and they just fit right in," Steindl said.

"We're trying to establish that down in Tassie, we just don't have the history yet, hopefully, 10-15 years down the track Tassie can turn an arena into something like this."

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The JackJumpers will take heart from the fact that some players are still working towards full fitness. Post-game, Roth felt Magnay was "two or three weeks" away from full fitness while NBL next star Nikita Mikhailovskii is expected to be back for the Boxing Day game against the New Zealand Breakers.

"If the ball starts going in things will change very quickly for us but we definitely need to continue to work offensively and find the right kind of mix and start making some shots at the end of the day," Roth said.

Roth has preached calmness amid the lean trot, and while he's not wrong that the season is a marathon, the JackJumpers appear to be in one lonely marathon as they head to Sydney without their shooting form.

The JackJumpers and Wildcats had their jerseys adorned with black bands as the record Wildcats home crowd paused to remember the victims of the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy in Devonport.

As captain and coach, as well as being two fathers, Roth and Steindl said the tragedy had weighed heavily on the playing group leading into the match.

"We have, Clint is one of them, young fathers on our team so that hits you in the core when you have a few of our players that are now parents and you have kids, it strikes obviously a nerve and its a sad day," Roth said.

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Steindl added: "It's tough mate, some of our Bloodlines members up north are involved in it and their families have suffered.

"There's some things bigger than basketball and we wanted to go out there and just try and play for those kids."

The JackJumpers will also wear the bands against the Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers.

The JackJumpers face another gruelling stretch with a game on December 22 at The Jungle against title aspirants Sydney Kings before a Boxing Day clash with the New Zealand Breakers back in Hobart.

The Kings and JackJumpers conclude round three with the Sydneysiders bouncing back to form against the South Melbourne Phoenix over the weekend.

Kings' talented duo Jarell Martin (12 points and 13 rebounds) and Xavier Cooks (19 points and 11 rebounds) notched double-doubles in the win and will be a focus for the Tasmanian team.

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The Breakers game would be circled in the JackJumpers' calendar as one to win with New Zealand being the only team below Tasmania on the NBL table after a winless start, which is the club's worst start to the season in history.

The Breakers could look to welcome injury replacement player Chasson Randle to the side while they will sweat on the fitness of captain Tom Abercrombie who picked up an ankle injury on Friday.

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