But she insisted her shorthanded teammates deserve more praise for Saturday's win in Perth that she rated one of the gutsiest she's seen.

Returning from a three-week layoff after surgery, Veal pulled up sore in her 350th WNBL game in Adelaide, forcing her to miss Saturday's 83-70 win over West Coast.

Lauren Jackson also didn't play after making her much-awaited comeback against the Lightning, the club easing her back slowly after nearly a year out.

Jackson scored 13 points in 15 minutes off the bench, and had an important impact in the final quarter with the game on the line.

Starter Hanna Zavecz also played just 10 minutes against West Coast after injuring her ankle early, but Canberra overcame those obstacles to improve to 6-7 and remain in the playoff hunt.

"It was probably the most pain I've played in," Veal said.

"We knew how important these two games were; we were treating them like finals. Basically if we didn't win both you could count us out, we'd struggle to get back in the mix. 

"Lauren coming back helped; we know how to play with each other. It felt like it was just us two out there at times."

Zavecz looks likely to be sidelined for a month, ruling her out of Canberra's next game against league leaders Townsville on January 2.

Veal admitted it was likely Jackson would bypass that match and focus on the January 4 home game against finals rival Dandenong, with the club wary of playing her twice in three days.

The Capitals boast one of the league's most talented rosters, but injuries have prevented them playing their best line-up all season.

"If Lauren comes up [for Townsville], great, but I can't see it happening," Veal said. "We really need to beat those teams around us, or we won't play in the finals."

Veal praised her teammates for stepping up against West Coast, with Carly Wilson (18 points), Stephanie Talbot (18 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists) and Michelle Cosier (10 points) easing the pressure on skipper Abby Bishop (18 points, seven assists, nine rebounds).

"I've never cheered so much in my career [at the West Coast game]. Everyone just stepped up," Veal said.

"They had a good game plan against Abby but she changed things up and it was everyone else's contribution which was the difference. Abby started hitting a few three balls, and opened it up that way."

WNBL

Friday: Canberra Capitals 73 (Abby Bishop 33, Lauren Jackson 13, Carly Wilson 11) bt Adelaide Lightning 70 (Carley Mijovic 13) at Adelaide Arena.

Saturday: Canberra Capitals 83 (Abby Bishop 18, Stephanie Talbot 18, Carly Wilson 18) bt West Coast Waves 70 (Sarah Graham 17, Deanna Smith 12) at WA Basketball Centre.