Minnie Stands Tall as Airs Beat Giants
In the first of the two Sal’s NBL Play-in games Taranaki Steelformers Airs defeated NBS Nelson Giants 87-74 in New Plymouth on Wednesday night.
Playing their first ever home play-off game the Airs were paced by an exceptional performance from import Elijah Minnie. The American equaled his season high with 30 points (on a highly efficient 12 from 15 from the field including 4 from 6 from beyond the arc) and added 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Carlin Davison gave Minnie strong support with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds, Flynn Cameron scored 11 brother Tobias 9 and Derone Raukawa also tallied 9 points.
Dan Fotu led the Giants scoring with 19 points, the tireless Dan Grida scored 17 points, before fouling out, and Alex McNaught scored 13. Kobe Langley returned from injury to also notch 13 points and despite looking short of full fitness the Giants playmaker also effected 5 steals.
The Giants, the worst three-point shooting team in the regular season, had a night to forget from beyond the arc making just 3 from 23 at 13% compared with the Airs 8 from 27 (29%).
The rebounding count was almost as lopsided with the Airs winning that contest 44-27.
Fotu scored the first three points of the game and with the Giants scoring on each of their first five possessions they were out to a 14-3 lead inside five minutes.
The response came in the form of threes from Raukawa and Minnie and with the Cameron brothers Flynn and Tobias producing three-point plays the Airs finished the quarter with ten unanswered points to lead 21-20.
Momentum remained with the Airs, and particularly with Minnie who was quickly into double figures, as they pushed their advantage out to 31-22.
The Giants found some relief through McNaught and Grida but the Minnie onslaught continued – 18 first half points to his name - and when the 29-year-old forward latched on to a Davison assist for a two handed flush the Airs were 42-30 ahead at the interval.
Grida and Tom Ingham kept the deficit around a dozen before Davison and the irresistible Minnie stretched the advantage to 60-42.
The Giants problems deepened by the three-quarter mark as in addition to trailing by 23 points (69-46) talisman Dan Grida had to sit with four personal fouls.
To their credit the Giants, after trailing by as many as 25 points, reduced the margin to 12 in the fourth quarter but the earlier work of Minnie and the Airs had laid the foundation for the victory the large home crowd craved for.
Next up for the Airs is a trip to the Cowles Stadium cauldron to take on regular season champions Canterbury Rams in an eagerly anticipated semi-final. That game will tip-off at 3.00pm on Sunday July 21.
Result: Taranaki Steelformers Airs (87) defeated NBS Nelson Giants (74)
Leading Players:
Airs 87: Minnie 30pts & 4 blocks, Davison 18pts & 11rebs, Flynn Cameron 11pts, Tobias Cameron 9pts & 5 steals
Giants 74: Fotu 19pts, Grida 17pts & 8rebs, McNaught 13pts, Langley 13pts & 5 steals
