Nelson Giants edge closer to locking down top spot in NBL

The Nelson Giants are inching closer to wrapping up top spot for the National Basketball League finals.

After overpowering the Manawatu¯ Jets by 25 points (96-71) on Wednesday, the Giants were made to work harder in Saturday’s rematch in Palmerston North.

Sparked by 27 points apiece from Trey Mourning and Sam Thompson, the Giants ground out an 88-84 road win – lifting them to a NBL-best 11-4 on the season.

With just three round games left, Nelson are within touching distance of securing top spot for the six-team finals at Auckland’s Eventfinda Stadium from August 10-13.

The top two qualifiers earn direct entry through to the semifinals.

This has been some season for Mike Fitchett’s Giants, who have been led by a superb American trio in Mourning, Thompson and point guard Jarrod West, and Kiwi stalwart Sam Dempster.

Nelson haven’t won the NBL title since 2007. Last season, they battled, finishing seventh in the 10-team competition with a 6-10 record.

The struggles continued for the Auckland Tuatara, who looked the team to beat over the first half of the competition.

The Tuatara still sit second with a 9-7 record, but slipped to their second straight home loss – losing 103-91 to the bottom placed Southland Sharks.

Not much has gone right for the Sharks in 2022, but they caused arguably the upset of the season – hurting Auckland’s bid for a top two finish.

The Sharks put together a scorching offensive performance, hitting 60% from the field (41/68) and drained 15 threes at 53%.

Guard Mojave King top-scored with 28 points, including five threes, while Alonzo Burton (20 points) and Brayden Inger (14 points-11 rebounds) also went well.

The defending champion Wellington Saints kept their finals hopes alive, winning their third game in four starts since Troy McLean took over from Guy Molloy as coach after a 3-7 start.

Wellington delivered their finest display of the season, crushing the Hawks by 30 points 117-87 in a rematch of last year’s final.

Point guard Mike Smith led the way with 23 points and eight assists

in the win. Xavier Cooks (21 points and six rebounds), Taane Samuel (19 points) and new import Reggie Upshaw (17 points and eight rebounds) also turned in industrious outings.

In yesterday’s games, the red-hot Taranaki Airs made it five straight wins, accounting for the Canterbury Rams 87-70 in Christchurch.

Taranaki are sitting third at 9-5 and are legitimate title contenders.

American trio Anthony Hilliard, Shaun Willett and Javonte Douglas were outstanding again for the Airs, teaming up for 56 points and 31 rebounds.

Otago gained an important victory in their push for a finals berth, thumping the Jets 103-76 in Dunedin to improve to 8-7.