Playing her first match in 11 months and first in the WNBL since the 2009-10 grand final, Jackson came off the bench and racked up 13 points, including seven in the last quarter, five rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes to help spark a second-half fightback.

Down 41-29 late in the first half, the Capitals stormed home to improve their record to 5-7 before a crunch match against West Coast in Perth on Saturday night, their last before the league's Christmas break.

The Lightning's Jess Foley had a chance to level the scores with two seconds left, but her three-point attempt was off the mark.

While all eyes were on the star Australian Opals centre's return, in-form forward Abby Bishop stole the show with another dominant 33-point, eight-rebound display.

Jackson has been hampered by injuries, including five operations on her hip and knee since January, but the return of her famous No.15 singlet is a tremendous boost to Canberra's finals hopes.

She won't play against the Waves, but she did enough to give the Capitals plenty of optimism she can help them make a play-off run as she regains match fitness in the new year.

Canberra coach Carrie Graf said Jackson was relieved to pull up unscathed after the match.

"She was extremely nervous, but she scored some vital points in the last quarter and had really settled into the game by then," Graf said.

"It was important for her to get a game out of the way with her body and know she can still play basketball, which we all knew she could.

"She's not where we know she can be yet, but it was a nice start off the bench."

After scoring a career-high 35 points in last week's loss to Townsville, forward Bishop's case for this year's most valuable player award only strengthened.

Bishop scored 16 points in the first quarter and another 11 in the third, in which the Capitals outscored the hosts 21-14 to erase a six-point half-time deficit.

"If she doesn't win the most valuable player award this year, there's something wrong with the voting system," Graf said.

"She gets the best defender and gets double-teamed every week, and is dominant both ends of the floor."

The result ensured a happy 350th game for Capitals point guard Kristin Veal, who became just the eighth player in league history to reach the milestone.

WNBL

CANBERRA CAPITALS 73 (Abby Bishop 33, Lauren Jackson 13, Carly Wilson 11)

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 70 (Carley Mijovic 13, Alex Bunton 10, Jenni Screen 10, Angela Marino 10)