Canterbury Rams best Taranaki Airs in double overtime playoff thriller

Canterbury Rams and Taranaki Airs NBL playoff will go down in history. Source: Supplied / Katrina Parish. 

In what was one of the greatest Sals’ NBL playoff games ever, the Canterbury Rams pulled out a 112-111 double overtime win against the Taranaki Airs to book themselves a berth to the final on Sunday 28th of July.

Playing in front of a sellout Cowles Stadium, the spectacle certainly provided every member of the crowd raised blood levels as the score teetered on a knife’s edge.

The term ‘playoff basketball is a different animal’ was certainly in use once things had tipped off, as both teams employed a physical brand of basketball, embodied by Rams wing Max Darling, whose work on the offensive rebounds could best be described as brutal. In contrast, the Airs were being forced into tough, low percentage shots.

These two factors saw the hosts take the early lead, but Taranaki kept in touch by forcing turnovers and getting to the free-throw line. To end the first quarter however, the Airs went on a 9-0 run led by Derone Raukawa to secure a 23-19 lead.

The second quarter started with much of the same, the Rams imposing dominance on the offensive glass but struggling to capitalise on second chance opportunities.

Conversely, Taranaki’s offence kicked into another gear. Elijah Minnie kickstarted an Air’s run with 7 points alone, scoring in a variety of ways, whether it was dunking off the dribble or hitting the three ball. Two Darling threes kept the hosts in touch but the visitors took a 35-26 lead deep into the second.

Canterbury leaned on their spark plug MJ Walker, to rally the troops which he did in spades. Two three-point plays by the import whittled the lead down to 5, and that’s when the hosts started to hit their stride.

A couple of huge Walker and Darling three pointers coupled with some defensive stops saw the Cowles crowd find their voice as they were only down one at the half.  

The pace began to slow in the third quarter, as both teams tried to wrestle momentum from the other. Like a game of chess, the sides were going tit for tat and score for score, keeping it a close game throughout.

However, through some gritty defensive sets, Canterbury cobbled together a six-point lead and subsequently held a 69-63 berth going into the fourth.

The Airs started strong, going on a 7-0  run early in the quarter to whittle Canterbury’s lead to just two. The tandem of Rams’ MVP Lachlan Olbrich and captain Taylor Britt, however, helped grant the hosts an 88-77 lead with 2 minutes remaining.

The 7-foot Olbrich wreaked havoc inside the paint against the smaller Taranaki defenders as well as providing strong interior defence while his captain went on to score six consecutive points, the latter being a three that lit up the home crowd.

The fat lady hadn’t sung yet as the Airs stormed through like a runaway freight train into a 10-2 run, and subsequently lead to a Flynn Cameron three over two Ram defenders to send the contest into overtime.

With Cowles Stadium rocking, the first overtime period saw two teams giving not even an inch to each other. The Rams connected with a couple of free throws to hold a slender 101-99 lead, but once again, the Airs conjured up some magic.

With 2 seconds left, Carlin Davison got a fading mid-range shot to drop on the buzzer with a Ram draped all over him to book another heart stopping five-minute period.

Fatigue truly made its’ feeling present in what would be the final period, with both teams missing go ahead free throws, allowing each other to stay in the fight.

In what would be Taranaki’s final possession, Minnie sank two massive free throws despite a howling crowd to give the Airs a slender one-point lead with 2.2 seconds to go.

But Canterbury’s MVP would have the last laugh, with Olbrich banking in a layup on the buzzer to seal a 112-111 win for the hosts and blowing the roof off of Cowles in the process.

In what was a truly great spectacle, the Rams will face the victors of the Tuatara Bulls game in the big dance as they continue to chase an elusive repeat championship.