Head coach John Lavery wants Cheshire Phoenix to make life difficult for BBL high-fliers Newcastle Eagles.
Nix racked up 90 points against Glasgow Rocks, but paid the price for some porous defence in a deflating defeat.
With the free-scoring Eagles next up, Lavery believes it is essential his team tighten up defensively.
He said: “We scored 90 points in the Glasgow game and when you do that you expect to win the game.
“But our defence was not good enough. We changed our defence four times in the game but, whatever defence we were in, we just could not get any stops.
“Glasgow were able to score at will and whatever we did we just could not seem to click in defence.”
Newcastle head the BBL scoring charts and boast a roster packed with talent.
Lavery has spent the week focusing on defence in an attempt to nullify the Eagles threat.
He concedes that Nix will head into the game on Sunday as big outsiders, but wants his players to believe they are capable of turning the form book upside down.
“We have got to crack on and we have been working on a few different things in practice,” he said.
“Newcastle are one of the favourites for the league and you only have to look at what they have done over the years.
“It is going to be tough but we have got to rise to the challenge and come out and play hard.”
Nix were given a harsh lesson last time Newcastle visited the Northgate Arena, with the Eagles running out 106-65 winners.
Lavery has revamped his roster since then and will be hoping the scoreline is much closer this time around.
He will be looking for Victor Moses, who leads the BBL in rebounds per game, and Reggie Middleton, who heads the league assist charts, to maintain their impressive form.
Lavery has called on the Nix fans to create a cauldron atmosphere for the game, with the Eagles expected to bring a healthy following to the Northgate Arena.
“It really helps the players,” he said.
“It’s like the old cliche of being the sixth man. It is a lot better for the players to be going onto the court with the noise behind them.
“Our supporters have been great and hopefully they will turn up and get behind the team again.”
Nix head into the game with no fresh injury worries, but Lavery said some of his players were feeling the effects of having to play big minutes week in, week out.
