The Mid City Magic will get to play for five Dunedin men’s titles in a row — if Covid-19 allows.
The four-time defending champion booked the second spot in Saturday’s final on Tuesday night.
It beat the Andy Bay Falcons 96-83 to set up a rematch with the St Kilda Saints, who beat the Magic in the playoff game on Saturday to progress straight to the final.
Joe Ahie led the Magic with 28 points, hitting eight three-pointers in his second big display in four days.
It followed his 11 three-pointers from Saturday, giving him a possible playoff-record 19 three-pointers with a game to come.
He hit two of those in the first quarter, giving the Magic an 18-11 buffer early.
However, the Falcons hit back as they used their advantage inside in feeding centre Alex Yarnall, while Sam Senior (16 points) got to the hoop twice to help pull back the deficit.
The Magic led 23-20 at the first break, which became 40-29 as Nuggets starters Josh Aitcheson (16 points) and Richie Rodger (19 points) began to work their way into the game.
Again the Falcons hit back though, Hamish Robertson (13 points) finishing the quarter well to pull back to 45-38 at halftime.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Ahie to start the second half — the first of four in the second quarter — helped the Magic to a double-digit lead.
That margin stayed at about 10 the majority of the third quarter, as Ihaia Kendrew (14 points) responded with two triples of his own.
The Magic held a 74-64 lead at three-quarter time, before opening the gap to 15 late in the game.
Mitchell Hughan (17 points) got to the hoop in transition, before Rodger came up with a pair of high-level finishes to close the game out.
■The women’s National Basketball League games scheduled for the next four days will not go ahead as scheduled.
The Otago Gold Rush had been set to play in Auckland tonight, Saturday and Sunday.
A decision was yet to be made whether the games would be rescheduled or cancelled.
