The good news for the Otago Nuggets is the Wellington Saints attempt a lot of tough shots.
The bad news is Corey Webster makes plenty of them. The Tall Blacks shooting guard leads the league in scoring with 28.4 points a game. He is more than five points ahead of his nearest rival.
If the Nuggets can find a way to trim his contribution to perhaps half his season average, that will go a long way towards securing a much-needed win.
Otago started well but has lost its last three consecutive home games and has slipped to sixth on the competition table.
To help revive the Nuggets' flagging fortunes, player-coach Mark Dickel made the tough decision to cut import Troy Payne this week. His replacement, fellow American Brandon Bowdry, arrives in Dunedin this morning. And jet lag or not, he will start the game.
''Unfortunately, we just don't have [the] luxury of easing the guy into it,'' Dickel said.
''We've just got to give him as much support as possible. We'll show him a few of the plays in the morning and get him out there and try and get him into it.
''Everybody else will pretty much play their regular rotation, and hopefully Brandon can just add something a little bit different.''
The Saints will be in a similar situation with their Brandon - Brandon Bowman. He had had one training with the Saints before their match against the Waitakere Rangers last night.
Dickel planned to scout last night's game but has otherwise just seen Bowman play in video clips.
''I know he has had a pretty good career thus far, so I'm sure he is going to present us with some troubles.''
Webster, though, shapes as the biggest threat.
''He is far and away the leading scorer in the league, so we've got to try and make it hard for him and don't let anybody else get away. He takes a lot of shots. He's a volume scorer. So we just have to understand that.''
Former Nugget BJ Anthony (1.98m) will play the five spot for the Saints. The visitors are under-sized and it would not be a surprise if they make another change to their import roster before the regular season is complete.
American Ernest Scott (2.01m) signed a temporary deal with the franchise but is not really a post player. Anthony will give the Saints plenty of aggression under the hoop. He can get himself into foul trouble though, and the Nuggets are bound to try to exploit that area of his game.
Nuggets centre Warren Carter (2.04m) will enjoy a significant height advantage but will need to muscle up. He will have help from Brendon Polyblank in the paint. The former Tall Black has been one of the best performed players for the Nuggets this season. Dickel has been good value as well and leads the league in assists with 9.7 a game. He is the chief playmaker and his battle with Lindsay Tait is always great to watch.
But where the home side might struggle is on the bench. Sam King's form has dropped away and Tony Tolovae has not been able to make much of an impact. Starting guard Micah Lepaio is more suited to a bench role and amasses fouls at a rapid rate.
The Nuggets do not have a lot of depth, which is why Bowdry will have to find his feet quickly.
National Basketball League: Otago Nuggets v Wellington Saints
Where: Edgar Centre.
When: Tonight, 8pm.
Nuggets: Mark Dickel, Micah Lepaio, Brandon Bowdry, Brendon Polyblank, Warren Carter, Sam King, Tony Tolovae, Steve Robinson, Richard Rodger, Damon Cleverley, Olly Smith, Tom Rowe.
Saints: Lindsay Tait, Corey Webster, Brandon Bowman, Ernest Scott, BJ Anthony, Dion Prewster, Damien Ekenasio, Jordan Mills, Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa, Jordan Ngatai.
