It is, after all, the silly season in basketball.
Back-to-back matches, sometimes against the same team in the space of a fortnight, and key players plying their trade on a bigger market are a few things that come to mind.
Suffice it to say, while the New Zealand Breakers are home and away, the HBS Bank Hawks were always going to play.
As it transpired, they did last night to the tune of 71-59 against the Waikato Pistons at the Energy Events Centre, Rotorua, in their Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) match.
"Four and oh [zero]. I think we came out really tough so I'm stoked with our good start," Hawks assistant coach Kirstin Taylor proclaimed last night after they won every quarter - 20-15, 34-31, 53-42 to remain undefeated in four outings.
Quarter by quarter, the visitors wore down the Pistons with fast breaks, prompting the lethargic hosts to fall back on zonal defensive patterns.
That Waikato came back at the Hawks, sporadically, is a given but Taylor aptly pointed out the game was won and lost on the boards - the Hawks out-rebounded the Pistons 49 to 28 and flexed their biceps on defence.
"Everything went to plan," the former Tall Fern said, lauding small forward Chris Daniel who top scored with 21 points after making the starting five with Paora Winitana unavailable because of his religious beliefs.
American import Josh Pace contributed 20, forward Arthur Trousdell was next with 12 points.
Latest signing from the US Galen Young devoured 13 rebounds in the key.
"Galen's inside presence was huge so he was our board man," a delighted Taylor said, revealing the Pistons' transparency was always obvious to them.
"They tried to have some quick shots but the Hawks defended well and kept them to 59 points."
Taylor acknowledged the absence of Breakers Thomas Abercrombie, Alex Pledger and BJ Anthony at game two of the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) finals last night in Cairns made life easier for the Hawks.
Waikato import point guard Jerry Smith won her plaudits for emulating Daniel but Taylor was pleased the Hawks kept a tight leash on Hayden Allen (16 points) and import Sylvester Seay.
While the game was physical, she said the Hawks weren't "beaten and bruised" as they were against the Taranaki Mountain Airs and the Manawatu Jets.
The Hawks will travel to the South this weekend to play the Otago Nuggets and the Southland Sharks in a double-header.
Waikato CEO John Davey described last night's game as an "awful game as a spectacle".
Countless turnovers and unforced errors reigned and the score line suggested it wasn't a free-flowing game, Davey lamented, adding they wanted the ANBL finals to be dusted so their three key players, with coach Judd Flavell, could return to put them back on the NBL campaign.
"To be competitive we need to be at full strength because we hate losing games," Davey said, unhappy the Pistons had a "disjointed training session" before last night's game after they were caught up in the Auckland traffic gridlock on Thursday.
"But we should be good enough and the Hawks were better than us tonight.
"We made too many errors and they simply out-hustled us.
"The score line doesn't do the Hawks justice so we're lucky to escape by 12 points," Davey said.
NBL Basketball: Hawks drive home advantage over Pistons
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