Not for the first time this season, the Hawks missed the jump at home against the Bullets to surrender a 12-point halftime deficit before a second-half resurgence that was only sealed in the closing moments.

It wasn’t the best his side has looked but Beveridge said he hasn’t been more pleased after a game this season than he was on Friday night.

“It was one of the best comebacks we’ve ever had but it wasn’t a fluke,” Beveridge said.

“You can’t take anything away from Brisbane, they shot the ball outstanding in that first half. I think we spluttered a bit in our offence but I think the way Brisbane were switching their defences up it took us a little bit out of our flow as well. 

“I didn’t like the way we defended early on, our containment was average, they had way too many open shots, but what I loved about it was the fight that we had.

“You can say we got out of jail as much as you like but sometimes you’ve got to make your own luck and we just worked our butts off and kept chipping away.

“It was a really super physical game, it was a grinding game… is it the way we want to play? From an entertainment perspective, probably not, but it’s about winning games.

“If we need to get down in the trenches, if we need to dig down and play the hard defence and grind it out than that’s what we have to do.”

Perth’s home loss to league leaders Adelaide on Saturday means the Hawks re-claimed second spot on the ladder with the gutsy win over Brisbane.

It’s just the latest fluctuation in the snakes and ladders game that is the closest NBL season in history but, with just six games remaining, Beveridge said his side’s finals equation is a glaringly simple one. 

“We have to control our own destiny,” Beveridge said.

“We’ve lost a series to Sydney we’ve lost a series to Perth so we can’t rely on other teams winning or losing.

“I’ve told the guys ‘don’t look at what other teams are doing, don’t look at the ladder’.

“If we win those games, we’re in [the play-offs], if we lose, than we’re not.

“It’s as simple as that because the competition’s so close. We’ve got four more games at home, two on the road, so it’s completely in our hands.”