Giants stumble to the finish line

The NBS Nelson Giants season is over, losing to the Taranaki Airs in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite starting red hot, making their first five shots in a row to start the game, they quickly cooled down and Taranaki coasted away to a 87-74 win.

Shooting a miserable 3/23 from three, Taranaki were happy to dare the Giants into shooting from outside the arc.

Without Theo Akwuba, the height of the Giants was also significant factor as they were dominated around the rim with 17 less rebounds.

Elijah Minnie was massive for Taranaki off the bench, finishing with 30 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks, while the Giants bench added eight points combined.

Having lost to Taranaki on Sunday in the last round of the regular season, it was always going to be a tall task for the Giants.

With an undermanned and undersized squad, they were the clear underdogs after a three loss slide coming into the game.

Despite an 11 point lead early in the first quarter, the tides quickly turned for the Giants as they trailed by one.

The deficit had blown out to 12 points at the end of the half, with four consecutive turn overs ending the second quarter which wiped away the hard work they had done to claw their way back into the game.

And with the Giants primary scorer this season, Dan Grida, picked up foul trouble late in the third, the game was all but out of reach.

It wasn’t Grida’s night, fouled out with 4:36 left on the clock having put 17 points on the board with five turnovers.

Dan Fotu would add a tram-high 19 points alongside six rebounds, while Alex McNaught, who’s not known for his scoring, contributed 13.

Kobe Langley, with five steals, was a strong defensive player but wasn’t able to find his shot from an unselfish eight attempts for 13 points despite starting with an early deep three.