The Mike Nelson Giants have had an impressive start to their season with a 117-68 thrashing of the 2 Cheap Cars Supercity Rangers.
Damon Heuir tallied 25 points on 7-11 from the field, and added nine assists for the Giants who were red hot from the three point line shooting 15 of 35 (42%) from three. Finn Delany chipped in with 15 points, and forward Jerry Evan Jr scored 16 points, showing that he can space the floor converting on 4/7 three’s.
Nelson’s new head coach, Jamie Pearlman, will be certainly pleased with his sides performances and was able to rotate what looks like a much deeper bench than in seasons past, their bench outscoring the Rangers 43-26.
For the Rangers, it was certainly a tough double-header to open the season, and tonight their only notable performance was shooting guard, Clay Wilson, who had 18 points. Brook Ruscoe was the next best scorer with 11. Rebounding is a major concern for the visitors, being outrebounded by 25.
After trailing early by 11, the Rangers did show some fight closing to within four at the end of the first quarter. But the momentum quickly shifted early in the second thanks to back to back dunks from Tohi Smith-Milner and Finn Delany.
It was clearly evident that the Rangers had tired legs after a tough loss the night before to the Canterbury Rams, and by halftime they were trailing 58-39. The second half would be all Nelson, as the home side extended their lead to as many as 49.
Tomorrow, Round One of Sal’s NBL concludes when the Go Media Jets play their first game in a couple of seasons when they host their arch rivals the Augusta Taranaki Mountainairs tomorrow afternoon (Live Streamed on NZNBL TV).
Week 1: Saturday, April 24th
At Trafalgar Centre, Nelson
Mike Pero Nelson Giants 117 (Damon Heuir 25, Jerry Evans Jr 16, Finn Delany 15)
2 Cheap Cars Supercity Rangers 68 (Clay Wilson 18, Brook Ruscoe 11, Dominique Kelman-Poto 10)
Live Stats
Photo: www.photosport.co.nz
