Saints, Hawks set tone

The Wellington Saints have made a flying start to the National Basketball League season.

After sitting out the six-week NBL Showdown tournament in Auckland last year, the 2019 NBL champions have quickly demonstrated they will be the benchmark as usual in 2021.

Friday’s 105-73 thumping of the Southland Sharks lifted them to a perfect 3-0 record.

The Hawke’s Bay Hawks and Canterbury Rams received plenty of hype heading into the new season, but the Saints will take some stopping on this early evidence.

Saints unbeaten

The red-hot Saints improved to 3-0 with a statement victory over the Southland Sharks in the game of the round.

Taane Samuel picked up where he left off last season in the Showdown with the Jets, producing a powerful performance for the Saints. Samuel scored a game-high 26 points on 9-17 shooting, featuring five of eight from deep.

The Saints pulled away from the Sharks in the last quarter, outscoring them 34-11 as they cruised to a 32-point victory.

Moss comes up big

A standout showing from American shooting guard Isaiah Moss propelled the Nuggets to their second straight win.

Moss was influential, pouring in 33 points and hauling down seven rebounds in Otago’s 108-96 win over the travelling Jets.

The Nuggets also got strong output from centre Sam Timmins who chipped in with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, and Australian Geremy McKay, who added 18 points.

Hawks two from two

Early season title favourites, the Hawke’s Bay Hawks are 2-0 to start the season after prevailing 85-73 against Southland, who went 2-0 on their North Island road trip.

Guard Derone Raukawa was busy for the Hawks with a game-high 28 points, while also dishing out five assists.

The Hawks took a nine point lead into halftime (50-41) and went a long way to winning the contest with their defensive intensity in the third quarter. They limited the Sharks to just 10 points, leaving them with too much ground to make up in the last 10 minutes.