The Breakers' quest to finish inside the top four in the NBL championship will continue without star guard RJ Hampton after coach Dan Shamir confirmed he is still out with an ongoing hip injury.
Shamir told 1 NEWS today Hampton, who has been out for six weeks with the injury, won't take part in Saturday's crucial clash with the second-placed Wildcats in Perth.
"I can't even describe to you the nature of his injury," Shamir said.
"He's got a hip injury that has influenced his back and he's not at a point where we're going to activate him for this game.
"It's an ongoing process with the medical team."
Hampton went down on December 6 with the injury during the Breakers' loss to the Cairns Taipans and hasn't played since, despite initial projections estimating he would only be sidelined for four weeks.
Shamir isn't concerned though.
"I like to focus on the players I have and I like for the fans to focus on that."
The Breakers enter Saturday's game in a tie for fourth in the competition but their sub-par for-and-against record has them sitting underneath Melbourne United and the Brisbane Bullets.
With only five games left in the regular season, every win is crucial for the Breakers but Shamir has warned his players not to think too far ahead.
"We have the ability to win games but I'm not getting into any of those calculations - I'm not that kind of guy," Shamir said.
"It's worse in this league because it's only a nine-team league and only four move to the playoffs.
"A lot of teams are in the mix and it can be decided over one game so as a coach, I don't think it really helps me to think about and make all those calculations.
"If we win enough games, it will take care of itself."
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