Adelaide 36ers guard Sunday Dech said the team needs to learn from its mistakes ahead of its game in Cairns next Monday.

The 36ers fell to their fifth consecutive loss on Saturday night with the defeat to Melbourne United at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

With Antonius Cleveland in foul trouble from the opening moments, Dech came in to play a key role early.

"We're fighting for our lives at the moment, everyone has to come in ready to go, it's my job to bring energy off the bench," he said.

"We've got a deep roster and it's a next man up mentality.

"We had a lead at half-time, we were following the game plan, then down the stretch Melbourne made some tough shots and we didn't adjust properly."

The loss, and other results, leave the 36ers requiring to win their remaining three games and for other games to go their way to make the post-season.

Dech said there's lessons to be learned from every game.

"You've got to take the positives with the negatives and become a better basketball player for it," he said.

"I think there's some stuff in hindsight you wish you could've done differently as players as well, and unfortunately you can't go back and change it.

"You've got to put the right step forward tomorrow and the following day and prepare for the next game, these games have passed now and we have to learn from the mistakes and keep going."