The Nuggets have shown enough promise to suggest they can break a losing streak which stretches back to April 2008. But last night they put the wooden in spoon with a woeful display, slumping to a 99-80 defeat their 33rd consecutive loss.
The game was alive as a contest for the eight minutes or so it took the Saints to work out the Nuggets cannot play a lick of defence.
Time after time, the visitors ran down court leaving the home side gasping in their wake. Tall Black point guard Lindsay Tait controlled the tempo and ran the cutter, unleashing the Saints' potent attack.
The Nuggets could not mount any lasting defensive pressure. They also had trouble keeping possession, with the Saints' full court press forcing a series of turnovers.
The Nuggets desperately need to unearth a decent ball handler. American point guard Scott O'Gallagher had an off night and was completely outclassed by his opposite. According to the official stats, O'Gallagher did not make any assists and scored just seven points in 28 minutes.
That is fine if you are chipping in from the bench, but he is supposed to be one of the marquee players.
Fellow import Lance Allred missed his share of lay-ups but gave an honest performance. He run up and down the centre of the court in methodical fashion and picked up 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Craig Bradshaw must be wondering what he was thinking when he signed for the Nuggets. The Tall Black forward kept trying with 18 points and 14 boards, and Sam To'omata had a strong second half, scoring 10 of his 15 points.
The Saints, for their part, cruised through the game. Erron Maxey spent most of the game on the bench but showed up in the last quarter to scorch 13 points and take his haul to 15.
Tait also spent a lot of time sitting down but still managed to score 15 points in under 20 minutes, and classy guard Corey Webster added 21 points.
Both sides made a scrappy start to the game with some glaring misses.
Allred showed a nice touch for a big man. The 2.11m centre found O'Gallagher in the paint with a subtle pass. O'Gallagher provided a nice finish, muscling the ball into the hoop and attracting a foul in the process. But it was basically his only meaningful contribution for the match.
The Saints needed a helping hand from Tall Black Casey Frank to open the scoring. He held Bradshaw back from getting to Leon Henry. Henry drilled the three-pointer while the official took a nap.
Bradshaw had his revenge moments later, finding his range from beyond the arch. The Nuggets led for most of the opening spell but some dreadful transition defence allowed the Saints to take a 24-23 led into the break.
The Saints turned up the defensive pressure in the second period and, with Tait using his pace and vision to set up some blistering fast breaks, the visitors seized control of the tempo and the game, taking a 10-goal lead into halftime.
Nuggets captain To'omata opened the third quarter with a three-pointer but Webster answered back with a pull-up three of his own. The New Zealand Breaker made the basket look easy. He only had a split second to make the decision and get the shot off before the defence closed and never looked like missing.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets gave too many of Webster's team-mates the valuable seconds they needed to make plenty more of those types of shots.
The fourth quarter would have been hard to watch had it not been for Steve Adams, the younger brother of shot put queen Valarie Adams.
The 17-year-old made block after block.
NUGGETS v SAINTS
- The Scores
• Wellington Saints 99
(Corey Webster 21, Lindsay Tait 15, Erron Maxey 15)
• Otago Nuggets 80
(Craig Bradshaw 18, Sam To'omata 15, Lance Allred 12)
• Quarter 24-23, halftime 49-39, third quarter 55-68
• In Nelson: Manawatu 95 (Darryl Hudson 38, Jeremiah Trueman 16, Nick Horvath 15) Nelson 94 (Phill Jones 24, Rod Grizzard 21, Mika Vukona 17). Halftime: 48-45.
