Preparing for a showdown with second-placed Perth tomorrow night, Hawks player Glen Saville sent a stark warning to his team-mates as they attempt to avoid becoming roadkill again.

Saville claimed they could not afford more on-court lapses which helped erode their lead against Cairns on Wednesday night before a late resurgence.

The Hawks slumped to a third-term deficit before going on a 20-7 run which set up victory.

"There were parts of the game that if we were doing that on the road we might find ourselves down by 10 or 15 points," Saville said.

"But I think that at home we have that bit of an advantage, that we can keep playing with confidence.

"Against a team like Perth, having seen them against the (Melbourne) Tigers, you know they're playing pretty good basketball and you can't afford to have those lapses."

Saville said the Hawks needed to improve their road record to establish themselves as a force.

He said senior players were motivated by the poor success rate away from The Sandpit.

"It's hard to say how many games you'd want to win on the road this year, but you'd have to say you'd want to be close to six or seven or eight of those to be wins," Saville said.

"But it's still very important for us, because we want to be finals contenders."