Hosts Tasmania have won four of their past six games, including Tuesday’s Open Air Game victory over Melbourne United.
The Breakers, meanwhile, head into this Round 14 fixture on a three-game losing streak, including dropping both games last round against Cairns and Brisbane.
Despite this, NBL veteran Cam Gliddon backs the Breakers’ chances, believing they ‘have the JackJumpers number’.
“[This is] the Jackies team of old, being stingy on defence and very unselfish on offence, which [is a proven recipe] to get it done,” Gliddon said via Friday’s episode of NBL Now.
“I know the Jackies are playing really well right now and had one of their best games of the year [against United], but New Zealand just seems to have the wood on them right now.
“I’ve watched the Breakers convincingly beat Tasmania on both occasions at Spark Arena, [primarily] because of their conflicting style.”
A big factor in determining who wins this clash will be the battle of the bigs between Will Magnay and Sam Mennenga.
But Gliddon believes one of the Breakers’ rising stars looms as the key for Petteri Koponen’s side.
“The best games New Zealand have played this year is when Karim Lopez [is playing well],” Gliddon said.
“It’s hard to put this kind of weight on such a young kid’s shoulders, but if he can stay out of foul trouble, we’ve seen how many different ways he can impact the game.
“Especially when he’s running off some of those flex actions where he’s keeping the defence honest, by his ability to score and be a threat in multiple ways.”
Friday’s Boxing Day game tips off at 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.