A hectic four days culminated with the Hawkes Bay Hawks dishing out a 97-74 basketball lesson to the Nuggets at Pettigrew-Green Arena in Napier yesterday.
It was Otago's third game in four days and the side was completely drained.
The weekend started well with the Nuggets earning their second win of the season - a 92-88 win at home against the Taranaki Mountain Airs.
The Nuggets pushed the Manawatu Jets hard in Palmerston North on Sunday but came up short, losing 87-83.
But the Hawks were always going to be the toughest assignment.
"We got off to a better start but I just think fatigue caught up with us in the end," coach Alf Arlidge said.
"They are a tough side. They have guys who trot off the bench and make big plays.
I think Ben Hill scored 12 from the bench - four three-pointers.
Chris Daniel came off the bench and got 19 against us.
That's 31 points off the bench right there.
"We got maybe 12. It is just depth. They have a lot of depth and we haven't.
"We came back, though, and got the lead down to nine in the fourth quarter. But we just ran out of legs. We were just tired and the gap blew out again."
The 2006 champion is a classy outfit and improved its record to 9-2 with the 23-point shellacking.
The Nuggets (2-8) were still in the match at halftime but could not stay with the Hawks in the third period.
The home side outscored the Nuggets 32-23 to stretch its halftime lead from seven points to 16.
American import Josh Pace starred with 24 points, 10 assists and five rebounds and Daniel and Paora Winitana scored 19 and 18 points respectively.
For the Nuggets, Craig Bradshaw scored 22 points and Lance Allred notched up another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Scott O'Gallagher landed all eight attempts from the free throw in a haul of 14 points.
But he drew plenty of defence and did not get the freedom he would have liked.
Back-up point guard James Ross had some spark from the bench, with Arlidge singling him out for praise.
"I think the best thing about the weekend was James Ross. He played really, really well in the last two games."
The Nuggets' next assignment is against the Southland Sharks in Invercargill on Saturday night.
NBL scores
Hawkes Bay Hawks 97: Josh Pace 24, Chris Daniel 19, Paora Winitana 18
Otago Nuggets 74: Craig Bradshaw 22, Lance Allred 15, Scott O'Gallagher 14
Quarter 26-18, halftime 41-34, third quarter 74-57
