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KEANU Pinder last night ruined Tasmania's gameplan with a career-best outside-the-arc blitz JackJumpers coach Scott Roth - nor anyone else - saw coming and which ensured Perth would head to Hobart and Monday's Game 2 full of confidence nursing a 1-0 NBL Semi Final Series lead.

The Wildcats will be playing loose and easy with house money as Tasmania has been unable to make an inroad at RAC Arena where Perth is now 3-0 over it in matches this season.

That means even a loss in Hobart to tie the series would not be overly galling for the Wildcats as they come back to RAC for a decider. But the removal of that win-or-you're-out tension makes them infinitely more dangerous in Game 2.

And that's after Game 1 went completely off the rails for the Jackies when Pinder started swishing 3-point makes, defying the scout.

His ability to hit the threeball, and he stroked a career-best 5-of-7, negated the interior defensive influence of Marcus Lee and Will Magnay, unsure whether to follow Pinder beyond the arc or stay in  the keyway.

That hesitation was all Pinder needed en route to a game-high 25 points at 58 percent, with seven rebounds.

His dunk off a Tai Webster feed over Lee was a monster and one of the best of the season. But it's not as if Lee forgot, exacting his own revenge with a driving one-hand slam on Pinder soon after.

As expected, it was a gem of a contest, Hyrum Harris getting the Wildcats started, Tasmania dealing with quick fouls against Jack McVeigh.

In fact 19 fouls were called in an overblown first quarter, Perth gifted with 15 free throws. Funny that.

The Jackies' defensive strategy was to make Bryce Cotton a driver and on the rare occasions he found himself open on the perimeter, he rushed his shots, going 0-of-6 from deep.

But with Alex Sarr and Jordan Usher having some moments and Perth coach John Rillie sticking to his plan, the Wildcats headed into the final quarter ahead 62-58.

They could not foresee McVeigh opening the last with consecutive 3-point bombs to put Tasmania into the lead. Consecutive Lee buckets followed as the JackJumpers unfurled a 10-0 start for a 68-62 buffer.

A Pinder triple opened Perth's scoring, Kristian Doolittle followed with a basket but Lee kept the Ants ahead at 70-67.

It was another Pinder three which tied the game at 72-72, Harris gave them the lead and despite great drama and theatre to the siren, Tasmania would not again taste the lead.

Tai Webster hauled down a big offensive board and also nailed a massive three which was the final nail with an 87-78 lead going into the final half minute.

Perth's 29-of-32 free throws compared to Tasmania's 12-of-19 was a telling stat but somewhat inevitable if you're forcing Cotton to drive. 

“I thought Pinder was fantastic, I thought it was the best game I’ve seen him play all season ... I thought he was really, really good,” Roth said.

“Like any player when you see them go in your confidence builds. We didn’t step up on him enough and most of those shots were wide open and really in rhythm.”

Lessons learned and adjustments coming for Game 2.

NBL Semi Final (2v3) Best-of-3

Game 1: PERTH WILDCATS 89 (Pinder 25, Cotton 15, Usher 11; Pinder, Cotton 7 rebs; Cotton 5 assts) d TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 81 (Crawford 19, McVeigh 17, Lee 16, Doyle 12; Magnay 8 rebs; Doyle 6 assts) at RAC Arena. Crowd: 10,624