Basketball: Flying start for Giants, Hawks

By PETER JESSUP

The Nelson Giants and Hawkes Bay Hawks have both won two games, setting their new seasons in the basketball league away to a flyer.

Only Auckland and the Manawatu Jets successfully defended their home turf at the weekend, the Stars producing top-level shooting accuracy to demolish neighbours North Harbour and the Jets handing Taranaki their second defeat in two days.

New Zealand Breakers players were dominant in Auckland's 82-65 win over the Heat at the ASB Stadium.

Aaron Olson shot seven of 11 from inside the arc and three of five three-point attempts, Lindsay Tait downed five of 10 two-point attempts and two of four threes, and former Breakers' forward Casey Frank - still holding an accuracy record of 58 per cent in the Australian NBL from the days before he was cut for Mike Chappell - shot seven of 10 inside.

That dead-eye return for the Stars carried them away from the Heat in the third and fourth quarters, only Rob Tuilave responding for the visitors.

Judd Flavell, who shifted north to press for representative honours, did his chances no good with one from eight inside and none from four beyond the arc.

Former Otago player Dan Ryan looks a good buy for the Heat, but they clearly need their import Axel Dench quickly, and the Stars look as if they will improve as the season progresses.

The Giants scored the upset of the round with Breakers' shooting guard Phill Jones sinking a last-second shot to give them a 73-72 win in Hamilton.

Jones and Breakers' development player Mika Vukona had 16 points each, and Jones also had six rebounds. Ollie Hill took 10 boards.

Breakers' captain Pero Cameron top-scored with 21 but it was an unhappy NBL debut for Chappell, who scored only 13 points. Worse, he conceded the turnover from which Jones scored.

The Giants had beaten Taranaki 101-97 in an overtime game on Friday night, Jones equalling import Darnell McCulloch's top-score of 16 for Nelson. Willie Banks forced overtime with a three-pointer that tied the scores 91-91, and Jones was one contributor of the three-pointers that sunk the Airs in the extra period.

Fatigue beat the Airs when they backed up in Palmerston North on Saturday.

The Jets were missing New Zealand-born Miles Pearce and Luke Martin, who are still in Australia. But Cairns centre David Cooper was in, and they had enough firepower for an 84-81 win, helped by three-pointers from Jonathon Southey.

Hawkes Bay dumped Otago 89-75 in Dunedin on Friday night and backed up to beat Canterbury 88-72 on Saturday with American Morgan Bell and Adelaide's Gary Boodnikoff both performing well, along with Tall Black and Breaker Paora Winitana.

Aussie Damian Matacz top-scored for the Rams with 16.

Auckland go to Wellington on Wednesday and the Hawks host Waikato in the first mid-week games of a season compressed to accommodate the Tall Blacks' Olympic build-up.

The Stars back up to host Manawatu next Saturday, and the Titans meet Otago in Hamilton on Friday.

* Across the Tasman, the Sydney Kings beat Brisbane 104-100 at home and the West Sydney Razorbacks downed Wollongong 107-91 away in the first of the best-of-three semifinals series.