The Otago Nuggets cruised to a 105-80 win in their NBL Showdown qualifying final against a lacklustre Manawatu Jets team in Auckland last night.
It was a game that had few implications — the league's top two teams playing off to determine their seeding for tomorrow's semifinals. They will find out their opponents after tonight's elimination finals.
The Nuggets took the game more seriously than the Jets.
League most valuable player Tom Vodanovich did not play as he was resting a hip niggle.
Neither Taane Samuel nor Jayden Bezzant started either, as the side shared minutes among its players and took a reasonably relaxed approach to defence.
The Nuggets gave their bench plenty of opportunity too and, at times, they became loose. However, their intensity and execution was at a much higher level than the Jets'.
They exhibited many of the things that have made them so tough to beat over the past few weeks. At the defensive end, they locked in and got stops, again holding their opponent to 80 points.
On offence, they pushed in transition and the ball moved in the half-court. They showed their ability to score in a variety of ways and got at least four points from all 12 players.
The Nuggets led by double-digits midway through the first quarter and from there continued to extend that.
Forward Jordan Hunt was dominant in the first half and finished with 23 points, while teenage big man Jack Andrew had 16 points in an impressive second half.
For the Jets, impressive forward Taane Samuel put on another solid display, finishing with 17 points in 21 minutes.
Nuggets coach Brent Matehaere said it had been important to continue improving their performance.
He felt the side had done that and had been happy with how it defended, which allowed its offence to operate well.
That was key heading into tomorrow, when the side would look to make the first final in its history.
"That's the key thing, to make sure you're on an upward swing," he said.
"To make sure you're always trying to improve and you're trying to implement a game plan and to ensure that we're getting success right across the board, that's the key.
"We're still gelling, we're still learning. But I thought tonight was a big step forward in terms of our progress."
The Nuggets shot out to a 16-7 lead, which became 21-9 following a sparkling move from Akiva McBirney-Griffen and a Richie Rodger three.
At that point, the game began to loosen up and the Nuggets began to run different line-ups.
Hunt showed his ability to score in the post, off the roll and shooting from deep.
He had 19 first-half points on eight of 11 shooting, helping the side to a 30-19 lead at quarter-time and then a 53-35 lead at halftime.
The starters played less through the second half, although the bench stepped in to continue extending the lead.
Andrew was impressive around the hoop during that, while Darcy Knox and Rodger both impressed.
In the early game, the Canterbury Rams beat the Nelson Giants 93-89 to end the Giants' season.
The Rams play the Auckland Huskies at 5.30pm tonight, while the Taranaki Mountainairs meet the Franklin Bulls at 7.30pm.
