Otago Nuggets 80
The Otago Nuggets have only an outside mathematical chance of making the play-offs after notching up their 11th loss this season - an 80-96 drubbing by the Nelson Giants at the Trafalgar Centre, Nelson, on Saturday night.
But of more immediate concern than their bleak post-season prospects is the alarming rate at which the franchise is shedding personnel.
The fast-improving Jason Greig's season came to a premature end on Saturday night when the 2.10m tall centre tumbled awkwardly and broke his right leg.
With the match just 3min old, Greig and Giants forward Rowan Gray were competing for the ball when Gray stepped on Greig's foot, who, off balance, fell and broke his fibula.
It has been a disastrous fortnight for the Nuggets camp, with starting point guard Nat Connell and bench player Steve Robinson provisionally suspended after testing positive for cannabis following a home game against the Taranaki Dynamos on March 28.
The case is now in the hands of the Sports Tribunal.
If found guilty, the pair face a likely ban of between one or two months, which would mean the players would miss the rest of the season.
Former junior Tall Black Darryl Jones is struggling with a calf injury and missed the match against Nelson.
Nuggets coach Don Sims is hopeful he will be available for the Nuggets' next assignment against a powerful Waikato Pistons line-up at Stadium Southland in Invercargill this Saturday night.
If the Nuggets win all five of their remaining matches, perhaps they can scrape into the play-offs, Sims said.
"Statistically, if we win all five games - maybe," he said.
"But our problem right now is personnel.
"We're down to one big and, with the suspensions to Nat and those guys, we just want to make sure we come out and compete."
Tall Black Phill Jones led the scoring for the Giants with 25 points and American import Michael Harrison tallied 21.
The Nuggets' imports combined for 58 points, with Antoine Tisby scoring a game-high 32 and Lemar Gayle 26.
But with Greig going down in the first quarter, the Giants exploited the Nuggets' lack of height and dominated the boards.
Tisby was the Nuggets' leading rebounder with just six for the match.
"They did a real good job of blocking him off the boards.
We were down to one big at that time and it got a little tough for us.
"Once they saw we didn't have any height, they attacked us on the inside, which was good coaching.
To our credit, we had a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter and cut it back to 12 with 6min to go."
Nelson Giants 96 (Phill Jones 25, Michael Harrison 21) Otago Nuggets (Antoine Tisby 32, Lemar Gayle 26).
Quarter 28-22, half-time 56-39, three-quarters 84-61.
