Okay, with the NBL Final Fours to be staged here next month it's hard to totally eclipse the disappointment of a playoffs devoid of the Hawks' presence but then again Saturday night's win has to be put in perspective.
The Giants were stone-cold favourites despite their coach, Liam Flynn, alluding to the visitors' giant-killing potential well before the tip off.
Nelson were four zip on their home turf and on a five-win blitz.
The Paora Winitana-led Hawks were on a four-loss streak and are still finding their identities past the halfway stage of the NBL competition.
So who would you have put your money on?
If anything, bar securing a miraculous playoff berth at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, all the Hawks can do is shake their heads on a rash of what-ifs on impending upset results.
"We're talking about a team here that has been suffering and disappointed. We are establishing a bit of pride in ourselves and rebuilding our confidence," Baldwin said.
A 35-16 first quarter and a 19-14 last one spoke volumes on a foundation of a defensive effort that kept the Phill Jones unit quiet.
"They [Nelson] made a good run in the second quarter, as you'd expect a tough team to, but we weathered the storm," Baldwin said.
A measure of their D is evident in Nelson power forward Mika Vukona fouling out in 26 minutes and veteran Jones looking like he couldn't buy a point even if he tried.
It was what Jarrod Kenny said that resonated more with the coach that night after the Hawks point guard contributed 11 points and five assists.
"I finally feel healthy," Kenny had declared to Baldwin, reaffirming a quality the coach felt his general was itching to unleash amid shrugging off bouts of flu and an ankle injury.
Winitana found love with the rim with a game-high 23 points and five rebounds while slasher Brian Greene was the pick of all imports and one rebound shy of a double-double with 21 points.
If the Hawks were reduced to bricklayers in attempting to execute open shots in their resounding loss to the Wellington Saints at the PG Arena the previous weekend, on Saturday they had assumed the mantle of marble sculptors on Kenny's "pressured advantage" on court.
Youngster Alonzo Burton again showed his worth off the bench with three pointers.
"Alonzo was big on defence and dropped good shots so he has a great future in the game," Baldwin said of the son of former Hawks title-winning player Willie Burton.
If you have been crunching the numbers lately it seems as if forward Darko Cohadarevic is flying below the radar but Baldwin said on Saturday the Serb import was solid on D even if he scored just eight points, all in the last quarter.
He attributes Cohadarevic's offensive rebounding to taking Vukona out of the equation, "which is more important than the number of rebounds you get".
Having been away from New Zealand for several years, the former Tall Black coach had come to the realisation the NBL was a great league.
They will train in the next two days before taking a positive frame of mind to the capital city to play the Pero Cameron-coached Saints, "the best team in the league".
Nelson coach Flynn said he had impressed pre-match the Hawks were a better team than their record suggested.
"They did a terrific job of pressuring the lane and the ball," he said, rueing the Giants' sloppiness with the ball.
"We pride ourselves in our D but we gave them 87 points and too many lay ups," Flynn said.
