The Wellington Saints remain on track for a perfect season after another dominant weekend in the National Basketball League.
The defending champions are now 14-0, with four games left in the regular season before the Final Four in Tauranga on June 16/17. Two of those games come against the 4-10Nelson Giants, while a trip to face the 3-10 Bay Hawks should also be routine. Their toughest test before the playoffs will be the Supercity Rangers, who sit in third and could jump into second spot with a strong finish to the season.
With the top four solidified, the race is now to avoid finishing fourth. Fourth spot comes with a semifinal clash against the Saints, who look more unbeatable by the week.
Arguably their biggest test of the season to date came on Friday against the Southland Sharks. The Sharks sit in second on the ladder, and came into the game on a six match winning streak. To aid their chances, the Saints were without influential centre Tai Wesley, and it showed early on as the Sharks shot out to a 13 point lead.
However, MVP frontrunner Corey Webster took over, dropping 37 points and adding 10 assists as the Saints won the third quarter 32-13. Shea Ili added a career-high 30 as the best backcourt in the league eventually led the Saints to a 109-94 statement win.
The Saints backed up that showing with a 91-63 thrashing of the Taranaki Mountainairs on Sunday, while the Sharks followed it with their worst performance of the season; crushed 112-82 by the Supercity Rangers.
The dominating performance by the Rangers moved them to an 8-5 record, just behind the 9-5 Sharks. At this stage, those two sides look like they'll meet in the semifinals, with the 7-7 Canterbury Rams needing a strong finish to their regular season to jump out of fourth spot.
The Rams were boosted by the return to top form of 2016 Most Valuable Player McKenzie Moore, who recorded the first triple double of the season in a 91-83 victory over the Bay Hawks. Moore put up 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the talent-laden Rams saw off the Hawks, ending the Hawks' playoff hopes along with it.
Moore now has recorded the last two triple doubles in the NBL, 361 days apart.
The Giants, Hawks and Mountainairs will be left to battle to avoid the wooden spoon, with the Mountainairs currently occupying last spot at 3-11, having lost their last 10 games.
