Top spot slipped from Canberra's grasp in a 31-point loss to the playoff-bound Adelaide Lightning at The Lights and Community Sports Centre on Thursday night.

A forgettable night in Adelaide means the Capitals have everything to play for when they face the third-placed Melbourne Boomers - with whom they share an identical 11-5 record - at the Melbourne Sports Centre on Saturday.

"Sometimes in these situations it's better to jump back on the horse and play again, and get another game under your belt versus licking your wounds for a week," Capitals coach Paul Goriss said.

"It's better we've got a game to be able to fix some things and play with some more energy. It's a blessing to be able to get another game so soon. We're in charge of our own destiny."

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Adelaide sit fourth with a 10-6 record heading into their final game of the regular season against the lowly Southside Flyers on Saturday.

The league-leading Perth Lynx loom as the favourites to clinch top spot, having a double-header against the fifth-placed Townsville Fire to close out the regular season.

Rookie Shaneice Swain posted a team-high 10 points in the 81-50 defeat to the Lightning, for a Capitals outfit that shot just 24 per cent from the field against a rampant Adelaide outfit.

Canberra were held to just four points in the third quarter and finished with starters Kelsey Griffin, Britt Sykes, Britt Smart and Kelly Wilson all shooting an identical three of 12 from the field.

"I'm never one to make excuses but the reality of it is with the travel back and forth to Perth, we spent two days back in Canberra and fly to Adelaide, it's not an excuse but we were flat," Goriss said.

"They'd had a whole week at home, they hadn't been playing great, they were fresh and they were ready to roll. We just weren't. We just weren't ready right from the very start. You saw us get punched in the face right from the very first jump ball, it's hard to back that up with the energy and effort.

"For the entire game we were just flat. We tried different combinations, different defences, different things to get us going. We didn't shoot the ball that well either, missing layups, missing open shots. A little bit of that may have come down to the fatigue from the travel."

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