Neither did a lot of the shots.
But the Otago Nuggets produced a gutsy defensive display to squeak a 68-67 win against the Manawatu Jets in front of a crowd of about 1300 at the Edgar Centre last night.
Defensive maestro Todd Withers led the effort at that end of the court.
He also hit a couple of critical shots down the stretch during his 17-point haul.
The American power forward got two of the bigger cheers of the night when he twice stole the ball and finished off with a slam.
Sam Timmins grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 17 points for a double-double.
He left a lot of points out there, though. He landed just three of his 11 attempts at the free throw line.
The Nuggets’ outside shooting was not exactly a vintage display either.
The home team made four of 23 attempts.
Blame it on the banner. Before the game the Nuggets celebrated their 2022 championship win with a presentation.
They received their championship rings and singlets, but the banner unveiling was a fizzer – it stayed coiled up.
It was a bad omen which the Nuggets were able to overcome.
You have to feel for the Jets’ star import. Daniel Pippen II had a monster night.
He grabbed 20 rebounds and scored 29 points. He deserved better than a one-point loss for his effort.
Tukaha Cooper nailed five three pointers – one more than the Nuggets – on his way to 17 points.
Nuggets coach Brent Matehaere summed it up nicely.
"The 2022 banner did not drop and things didn't really go that well," he said.
"It was not pretty, really."
What was pretty was fortitude shown at the other end.
"But we base our mana and who we are on our defence and the guys did extremely well to keep them to [67]. That was a hell of a defensive effort."
The Nuggets have only had two training sessions together as a full unit and it was not a polished display as a result.
But there were some promising elements.
New recruit Michael Harris (12 points) has terrific acceleration and has a nice smooth shot.
American JaQuori McLaughlin (15 points) has some wheels as well. He did not always get the finish, but he made some impressive drives towards the hoop and gets the award for pass of the night — a behind the back assist.
"JaQuori did a great job defensively and he has some real offensive tools and we saw some of that down the stretch. There is more from him to come.
"And Harris, we won't see him shoot that badly again this season. He has an eye for a basket as you can well see."
Harris actually opened the scoring. Timmins found him under the hoop with a well-directed pass.
But Pippen was providing most of the highlights.
He banged in a lot of tough shots and swatted them away as well.
He hit one three-pointer from, well, somewhere near Waverley.
The Nuggets enjoyed a small lead at the first break and were up 42-35 at halftime.
But the Jets poured in eight unanswered points at the start of the period and then the scoring more or less completely dried up.
The Nuggets could only manage nine points in the period. But they limited the damage by holding the Jets to 16.
With 10 minutes remaining the score was locked at 51 apiece.
The Nuggets edged in front but could never get clear.
The Jets had the ball last and used up their shot clock getting the ball to Cooper. But his shot from the corner ended up in the arms of Harris.
That rebound capped off an ugly win for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets' next assignment is against the Southland Sharks at the Edgar Centre on Sunday.
The Jets had a 96-87 loss to the Sharks on Friday.
In other results this round, the Hawke's Bay Hawks edged the Franklin Bulls 84-79 and also beat the Saints 88-74. Both games were on the road.
The Auckland Tuatara beat the Nelson Giants 91-86 in Nelson.
NBL
The score
Nuggets 68
(Todd Withers 17, Sam Timmins 17)
Jets 67
(Daniel Pippen II 29, Tukaha Cooper 17)
Quarter scores: 25-22, 42-35 (17-13), 51-51 (9-16), 68-67 (17-16).
