Nuggets slay Giants to book place in final

The smiles were evident as the seconds counted down. But the celebrations from the Otago Nuggets were restrained.

This team has one more game to go - and it is not losing sight of its overall goal.

It will play for the National Basketball League title against the Auckland Tuatara at the North Shore Events Centre tonight.

That comes as the result of an 89-74 win in last night’s semifinal against the Nelson Giants at the same venue.

Otago Nuggets centre Sam Timmins goes to the hoop as Nelson Giants forward Trey Mourning attempts to guard him in last night’s National Basketball League semifinal in Auckland. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

"I think I turned my mind to it with about 20 seconds to go," Nuggets coach Brent Matehaere said.

"You always think something could happen, as it did last night [Thursday's semifinal between Auckland and Taranaki]. But I was really happy with the way the guys came on and played tough.

"It’ll be about looking after the bodies tonight (last night).

"I know the energy and the effort will be there - it’s a final. We’ve been there before and we know what it’s all about."

The final will be the first in Nuggets history in a full league - although they won the 2020 NBL Showdown, which had a Covid-19 adapted format.

They will face an Auckland Tuatara team that stole an overtime victory against the Taranaki Airs in Thursday’s semifinal.

In Chris Johnson and Rob Loe they have two of the league’s most potent big men and the Nuggets will have to be on their game to shut them down.

But, for the second time this week, they showed they are capable of doing that.

The Nuggets got contributions across the board from their starting five last night.

Tray Boyd and Sam Timmins had 20 points each, both dominant at various points, while Keith Williams added 18.

However, it was defensively that the Nuggets won this one.

Just as they had done two nights earlier against the Hawke’s Bay Hawks, they locked in and proved difficult for even some of the league’s top scorers to crack.

The hustle and energy was evident all night, but the systems and intelligence was equally impressive.

"Obviously, to play defence like that, we had parts of our game where we were getting kills and stopping them scoring a large number of possessions in a row.

"So I’m really happy with the way the fellas locked in on defence.

"It’s going to be a mammoth task tomorrow as well."

The Nuggets looked to Timmins early, using the centre’s size to go at Giants star Trey Mourning (22 points).

While the Giants jumped out to the early lead, Sam Thompson (22 points) prominent offensively, the strategy was rewarded when Mourning picked up his second foul.

The Nuggets began coming back into it from there.

Nikau McCullough hit a pair of three-pointers, while Williams finished on back to back baskets to make it 20-17 at quartertime.

That lead extended early in the second quarter.

Timmins began dominating inside, while the Nuggets gobbled up offensive rebounds.

At the other end they locked in on defence, while the Giants struggled to hit from deep.

They opened up a double-digit lead and, while they shot hot to end the half, Jarrod West (20 points) found his range to keep the Giants in check at 48-36.

The Giants looked to hit back through Mourning after the break, and reduced the margin to seven.

However, the Nuggets weathered the storm, locking down on defence again and getting to the hoop to go to the final break ahead 66-55.

From there they brought energy to the fourth quarter, while Boyd hit a series of big shots as the Nuggets pulled away convincingly.

Tonight’s tip-off is at 7.30pm.