The home side had its legs kicked out from under it before tip-off with Antoine Tisby ruled out with a foot injury.
The 2.03m centre is Otago's linchpin.
He is the leading rebounder, leading scorer and the only genuine big man on the roster.
Without Tisby, the game was never going to be much of a contest.
Giants coach Chris Tupu did his best to keep the match interesting, resting his entire starting five during the final quarter.
But he got good service from his bench with former Nugget Darryl Jones top-scoring with 14 points.
Starters Mika Vukona (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Tony Rampton (11 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles before they took a rest on the bench, and swingman Samuel Dempster scored 12 points.
With Tisby absent, Tyler Amaya had to shoulder the bulk of the scoring responsibilities and notched a game-high 23 points.
But he struggled at the free-throw line, missing five of his 10 attempts.
Skipper Sam To'omata had his best night in the Nuggets singlet with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Matt Gillan, playing in his 100th match for the franchise, scored 11 points and grabbed three rebounds and three steals.
The loss leaves the Nuggets anchored at the bottom of the competition table with seven consecutive losses this season.
Coach Alf Arlidge said his side was always going to battle without Tisby, but given the players available had done a reasonable job.
The plan was to move the ball quickly and run the Giants off their feet.
But the Nuggets did not execute the game plan as well as Arlidge would have liked.
"I think we are still struggling with our ball rotation.We just have to start believing in each other," he said.
"We looked good in patches. We brought it back well in the second quarter, but when you are pounding against guys who are 20kg heavier it's hard and it wears you down."
The size difference between the two teams was painfully obvious from the onset, and the Giants wasted little time asserting their physical dominance.
At 1.93m, Steve Robinson was no match for Giants centre Rampton who, at 2.14m, towered above his opposite.
And with Michael Harrison (2.10m) also starting for the Giants, the Nuggets were forced to defend tightly, hovering around the Giants' big men in swarms.
But at the same time they could not afford to ignore deadly outside shooters like Phil Jones and Michael Fitchett.
Unfortunately the Nuggets just ran out of numbers on defence.
They took a punt on Vukona and hung back when he was free on the outside.
But the Tall Black forward found his range, drilling a trio of three-pointers in the opening quarter.
With the score mounting up, Arlidge injected some pace into the game.
Point guard James Ross moved the ball up the court swiftly, leaving the Giants' bigger men in his wake.
Trailing 24-6, the Nuggets rallied with 11 quick points but still found themselves down 30-17 at the break.
The home side had its best period during the second spell but once again its shooting was poor.
The Nuggets missed 10 of their 18 foul shots and were just 3-of-19 from three-point range.
If the Nuggets are going to have any show of beating the Southland Sharks in the derby match at the Edgar Centre on Saturday, their shooting will need to improve drastically.
Tisby's return will also be crucial.
He was limping badly on Saturday night but is hopeful he will be fit for the game.
