The good news is Breakers swingman Leon Henry is expected to join the Otago Nuggets this weekend. The bad news is his team-mate, BJ Anthony, will not be joining him.
Giants v Nuggets
The scores
Giants 89
Michael Harrison 28, Phil Jones 21
Nuggets 77
Akeem Wright 23, Antoine Tisby 21
Quarter 29-14, halftime 53-36, third quarter 68-57
The Nuggets badly need an injection of talent after losses to the Manawatu Jets on Friday night and the Nelson Giants on Saturday night.
The Giants extended their unbeaten run against the Nuggets to 17 consecutive wins with a convincing 89-77 victory in Nelson.
The Southland Sharks also leapfrogged the Nuggets (3-7) with a surprise 86-85 win against the Wellington Saints in Invercargill. Only the Heat (2-7) has a worse record than the Nuggets.
With six games still to play the Nuggets can still crack the top four but they need to start winning.
"Things will have to go our way now," Nuggets coach Alf Arlidge said. "We're an outside chance."
Henry's presence should help greatly.
Before he arrives he has one more commitment with the Breakers for game three of the NBL finals series against the Perth Wildcats in Auckland tomorrow night.
Anthony, though, has been ruled out for the season with his troublesome ankle.
"He rang me. He won't play this season. He is going to get his injury right so he is ready for next season."
The Nuggets have been missing a good outside shooter and Henry will be looking forward to playing in a starting role after coming off the bench for the Breakers.
The Nuggets shot poorly against the Giants, landing 29 of their 82 shots from the floor.
They put up 12 more shots than their opponent but could not get the ball to drop.
Akeem Wright top-scored for the Nuggets with 23 points but he was one of the main offenders with eight from 26.
Mike Fitchett, who was rushed into the side late last week as a replacement for Mark Dickel, is still finding his feet with three from 10.
On the flip side, James Ross had a good night, scoring 15 points including two of his four three-point attempts.
Antoine Tisby produced another solid performance with 21 points and nine rebounds.
The game slipped away early with the Giants building a 29-14 lead in the opening 10 minutes.
They went into the halftime break ahead 53-35.
The home side led by more than 20 points at stages but the Nuggets kept battling and outscored the Giants 42-36 in the second half.
"The first half got away from us, and with Mike coming in we are still trying to get used to him playing. But that is no excuse.
"We have to be more professional than that."
In Invercargill, the Sharks edged the Saints 86-85.
