Starting centre Alex Pledger is in doubt for the opening match of the New Zealand Breakers' NBL semi-final series against minor premiers Melbourne United as he battles a mystery virus.
Pledger sat out the second half of the Breakers' 70-68 road win against the same opponents on Sunday after feeling dizzy at halftime.
He didn't train with his teammates in Melbourne on Tuesday, instead staying back at the hotel.
Assistant coach Judd Flavell says Pledger is awaiting results of tests to determine what the virus is.
Until those results come back, he says it's hard to assess Pledger's chances of taking the floor on Thursday night at Hisense Arena.
"But we're prepared for whatever happens," he said.
"I think that is one of the key advantages that we have. We've got a load of depth in our team."
Flavell cited youngster Shane Ili's performance against United at the weekend as he started in place of shooting guard Corey Webster, who was back in Auckland awaiting the birth of his first child.
"He didn't look out of place at all, so we have guys that are willing to step up and ready to go."
After becoming a father, Webster is due to join up later on Tuesday with the Breakers.
The defending champions, who are seeking a fifth title in six seasons, go into the playoffs with the momentum of a five-win run that has revived their campaign.
Their past two games were against Melbourne, with the Breakers holding a 3-1 edge in head-to-head meetings.
"Come this time of the year, we're confident having been there as a group plenty of times before," Flavell said.
"This is a different time of the year than the regular season."
That difference means Flavell is expecting the intensity "to go through the roof" in game one of the three-match series against United.
"They're a team that are hungry," he said.
"They've been fairly consistent all year. They did have a patch in the mid-point where they dropped some games but, over recent time, they've been very dangerous again.
"Their intensity is going to go to another level, as is ours."
