The officials will be counting, but the Nuggets are semifinal-bound regardless of the result.
That means it is an opportunity for Matehaere to give his starters a lengthier stint on the bench and rest anyone who might be carrying a niggle or two.
Star player Jordan Ngatai, for example, got a "few bumps and bruises" on his way to a game-high 37 points during the 97-85 win against the Manawatu Jets in a top of the table clash on Thursday night.
That victory confirmed pole position for the Nuggets heading into the National Basketball League (NBL) playoffs next week.
In a tight tournament, the Nuggets have emerged as the pace-setters. But there is very little between all seven teams, and Matehaere said his team was firmly grounded.
"You don’t get ahead of yourself. We’ve just got to stick to what we are good at, which is moving the ball and playing with pace.
"If we’re healthy [for the semifinal] we’ll give ourselves the chance to do something no other Nuggets team has done."
And the feat is to make the final. The Nuggets have never progressed beyond the semifinal stage.
"Can I tell you how may semifinals I’ve lost?" Matehaere, who played for the Nuggets, said.
"We lost a semifinal with the Nuggets in ’91. We lost quarterfinal in ’92. I lost with the Hawks two years in a row in the semifinals.
"So let’s just say my feet are firmly on the ground and in no way, shape or form am I thinking about the final."
Understood. But for some long-suffering Nuggets fans, these are heady times.
The franchise has been missing from the league since 2014 and once compiled a 33-game losing streak.
It is hard to bottle up the enthusiasm under those circumstances. And the Nuggets have been playing such an attractive brand of basketball.
The fear, of course, is the side has peaked a week early, but Matehaere provided some reassuring comment.
"We still have things to work on. Everything did not go perfectly in our last game against the Jets.
"We had a little stutter towards the end where we didn’t play smart basketball down the stretch.
"We need to make sure if we get in that position again we keep the foot on the throat."
That perhaps explains why Matehaere bristles ever so slightly at the mention tonight’s match is a dead-rubber.
Every game counts as far as he is concerned, and that is good to hear.
