No lead is insurmountable when the Otago Nuggets are chasing.
They have made a habit of slipping behind and running down the target late.
The hole was not quite as deep in Napier on Saturday night.
But the Hawke’s Bay Hawks led at all the major checkpoints.
Jordan Ngatai (21 points) and Ira Lee (19 points) kept the home side in front for most of the game.
But the Nuggets just pulled away in the final two minutes to win 94-87.
The win lifted the visitors to 10-5, while the Hawks slipped to 5-10.
The Hawks still have not won a game at home all season and their playoff prospects look to have faded away.
The Nuggets, however, have enough points in the bank to start planning the playoff campaign.
Todd Withers did a lot of the heavy lifting. The classy American power forward top-scored with 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Co-conspirators Michael Harris (21 points) and Tai Webster (19 points, 10 rebounds) were instrumental as well.
But the No1 priority will be working out what is going wrong in the first quarter.
The Nuggets got off to a slow start again. They found themselves trailing 13-5 early in the period.
Withers loves potting threes, though. He swished one through the net to provide an early spark.
Hawks import Lee rolled in a hook shot and picked up a foul in the process. He converted the extra.
Good player. Burnt the Nuggets late in Dunedin last month when he slotted in a similar shot in the final seconds to clinch a 95-94 win.
Ethan Rusbatch dropped in a three from deep to help the Hawks take a 25-16 advantage into the break.
Harris responded for the Nuggets. He used his speed to cut to the hoop and draw a foul.
He is awfully good at that. Slides by defenders like their sneakers are full of rocks.
The gap was gradually getting bigger, though.
The Nuggets called a timeout to work out a plan to trim the now 12-point lead.
Darcy Knox drilled a couple of triples which helped plenty.
His court time has fallen away since Webster and Nikau McCullough have joined the side, so it would have felt good to sink them. More importantly it took a decent chunk out of the lead.
But Ngatai hit a three-point jumper and made a lay-up to re-establish some of the buffer and a 45-39 lead at halftime.
Withers started the third with a dunk. McCullough found him near the hoop with a quality pass.
Some tenacious defence from Jack Andrew on the post created that opportunity.
Webster twisted harder on the throttle and made a classy cut to the hoop. He also found Withers unmarked at the top of the key with a nice dish.
Mark that down for three. He does not miss with that much time.
Ngatai continued to be a pest. He added to his mounting tally.
Hyrum Harris banked a shot off the glass in heavy traffic to complete the scoring in the period.
The Hawks were up 63-62 and this one appeared destined for a dramatic final couple of minutes.
The Nuggets edged away, protecting their lead by making their free throws, to win by seven.
NBL
The scores
Otago Nuggets 94
Todd Withers 23, Michael Harris 21
Hawke’s Bay Hawks 87
Jordan Ngatai 21, Ira Lee 19
Quarter scores: 16-25, 39-45, 62-63.
