The Nuggets point guard booted an advertising hoarding when he was ejected from the National Basketball League game against the Canterbury Rams for copping two technical fouls in the third quarter this afternoon in Dunedin.
That was hardly the act of a seasoned professional - especially one who had just returned from a suspension - but it neatly assessed the feeling in the 1850-strong crowd as the Nuggets slipped to a second straight loss, falling 96-81 to the defending champions.
‘‘Tai was frustrated,’’ coach Brent Matehaere said.
‘‘I was frustrated during the game, and I’ve probably got to do a better job of making sure I manage that. There are things that go on in basketball games that are challenging, and we’ve just got to be better.’’
The Nuggets were so cold in patches it was almost as if they were playing at their old Freezerdome stadium.
They shot 37% from the field and, while they drove to the hoop regularly, they missed 10 free throws, and gave up too many second-chance points at the other end.
‘‘To be honest, there are no excuses,’’ Matehaere said.
‘‘We had a tough week. But we’ve got to be better. We were certainly out of sync but we’ve got an opportunity to rectify it in a week’s time.’’
Kimani Lawrence led the Nuggets with a display of all-round hustle that led to 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Matehaere liked that his star import drew some attention but felt his team did not utilise those opportunities.
‘‘Our shooting was not up to scratch. We hit a few in the fourth but in reality we weren’t knocking down the shots we needed to.’’
Australian guard Ben Henshall took a long time to find his range and finished with 15 points for the Nuggets on 3-of-12 shooting, while both Matt Bardsley and Jack Andrew had 10 points.
The Rams got big production out of their leading men.
MJ Walker jun went 5-of-9 from long range to lead all scorers with 29 points, and big Australian Lachie Olbrich showed his skills for 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
It might have been an unseasonably warm Anzac Day but the Nuggets started on the icy side.
They let the Rams get too many second goes at the bucket as the visitors eased to a 10-point lead.
Henshall also struck early foul trouble, but the home side finished the first quarter nicely with a Bardsley steal and a Darcy Knox three to keep it to 22-18.
The Rams threatened to make a big move in the second after back-to-back corner treys from the silky Walker jun helped stretch the lead to 11.
Again, the Nuggets rallied, making some big hustle plays, but the Rams held a 42-33 lead at halftime.
While Lawrence had 13 points and eight rebounds in the first half, both Henshall and Andrew had just two points, and the Nuggets’ semi-anaemic offence needed to wake up.
Webster immediately hit from three to start the third quarter.
The Rams kept making big plays when they needed, and apart from a nice little Nuggets stretch that included a Henshall three and a Knox steal, the quarter belonged to the visitors, and it ended poorly for the Nuggets when Webster got his marching orders.
A 70-53 lead with a quarter to play was always going to be tough to turn around.
Henshall and Andrew each drained an early bomb to raise a flicker of hope but winning the quarter by two points was really only consolation.
The southern rivals meet again in Christchurch next Thursday.
In the Rapid League curtain-raiser, the Rams pipped the Nuggets 31-28.
Scores were tied 28-28 with 5sec on the clock when the Rams made a three-point play, and Robbie Coman’s three-point attempt for the Nuggets on the buzzer bounced away.
NBL
The scores
Canterbury Rams 96
MJ Walker jun 29, Lachie Olbrich 21, Kenyon Buffin jun 11
Otago Nuggets 81
Kimani Lawrence 19, Ben Henshall 15
Quarter scores: Rams 22-18, Rams 42-33, Rams 70-53.
