As the New Zealand Breakers continue a desperate late bid to make the Australian National Basketball League playoffs, point guard CJ Bruton is keeping his eye on the short-term.

The Breakers, who host bogey team Wollongong tomorrow night, are fifth on the ladder with three matches of the regular season to go.

Whether three wins will be enough to lift the club about the cut and into the top four isn't an issue Bruton has spent a lot of time analysing.

"I don't know," he said today.

"All I know is that we play Wollongong and right now that's the only game I care about."

One of the title favourites pre-season, the Breakers have struggled to live up to the billing and Bruton indicated that there had been a shift in focus.

"As teams do, you talk about where you're trying to go," he said.

"The reality was that we were not playing the style of play that could help us to get there.

"Instead of like, 'Christmas we need to be in the top three,' right now we're just thinking about Wollongong."

After four defeats in a row post-Christmas, the Breakers had looked down and out.

But victories in their past three outings have taken them to within a game and half of the fourth-placed Hawks.

"We believe in each other and obviously we're not backing down when teams come at us, like every team in the competition does," Burton said in explaining the turnaround in fortunes.

"We don't just pack it in. We still take the shots that we believe we can make and we change our defence at different times, which gives us opportunities."

Nevertheless, the Breakers will have to snap the supremacy that Wollongong have developed over them.

The Hawks have prevailed in all three meetings between the clubs so far this season, extending their winning streak over the Breakers to five.

When the two sides last met in Auckland, Wollongong, with American guard Tywain McKee outstanding, rallied from double-digit deficits to win a match the Breakers had looked to have in their pocket.

McKee, who scored 29 points in the 93-91 victory, including the decisive basket with 15 seconds remaining, will be absent this time around because of a season-ending back problem.

The Breakers have their own casualty concerns, with swingman Tom Abercrombie and centre Rick Rickert trying to overcome ankle injuries.

Of the two, Abercombrie is considered the more likely to suit up.

Meanwhile, Bruton defended his actions in calling for consistency in refereeing after the treatment he received at the hands of a physical Adelaide defence two weeks ago.

His comments, made to the Sunday Star-Times in the wake of the 103-89 win, led to the ANBL's issuing a $1000 fine for breach of rules on public criticism of officials.

Bruton said he had the game's interests at heart when he spoke out.

"I wouldn't have said what I said if I didn't believe it would help our competition, because talking behind closed doors or whispering about it to another player is not really ideal," he said.

"I know the refs try their best, but at the end of the day I just thought it needed to be said."