Hawke's Bay defeated Canterbury, Downer's previous team, 73-71 in Christchurch back in May.
There have been ups and downs since then but the Hawks enter Saturday off the back of a convincing 106-69 win against Manawatū in their previous outing.
Downer said the Hawks played long periods of good basketball against an admittedly undermanned Jets team missing two imports and already out of playoffs contention.
"It was a good confidence builder for sure, to go into a pretty big game with a win, a solid win, everyone contributed," he said.
It was also only Hawke's Bay's third win in eight home games, and first since June 18.
Point guard Derone Raukawa was held back as a precaution because of a calf niggle, but otherwise Downer had his full squad to call on for the first time this season.
Jack Salt's return to play coincided with Jordan Hunt being away with the Tall Blacks so last Sunday saw the four bigs; Salt, Hunt, Tajuan Agee and Quintin Bailey, play their first game all together.
Downer said having such a stacked frontcourt brought both opportunities and headaches in figuring out playing time for everyone.
"It's definitely a good problem to have," he said.
Hawke's Bay will need all four of them to limit the offensive rebounding prowess of the Rams, one of Canterbury's key strengths along with forcing turnovers.
Controlling the glass and taking care of the basketball, which have both been issues for the Hawks this season, will go a long way towards a win and Hawke's Bay's fourth straight playoff berth.
Tipoff is at 3pm.
