The National Basketball League (NBL) is a men’s semi-professional basketball league in New Zealand. Here is the live scores and final results
National Basketball League NZ : Live score | Final
In 1981, a group of club and provincial teams came together to create a men’s national basketball league.
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| Inaugural season | 1982 |
| Director | Huw Beynon (general manager) |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Countries | New Zealand |
| Continent | FIBA Oceania (Oceania) |
The following year, the league was brought under the management of the New Zealand Basketball Federation.
The league quickly grew in size and popularity due to the influx of sponsors and American import players.
The early 1990s held dwindling fortunes for New Zealand basketball, with reduced TV coverage, sponsorships, and crowd numbers.
The sport’s popularity increased in the 2000s with the success of the Tall Blacks and the introduction of the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian NBL.
In the early days, Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington were the benchmark teams of the league.
During the 1990s, Auckland and Nelson were the teams to beat, before Waikato joined Auckland as the dominant sides during the 2000s. During the 2010s, Wellington and Southland became the league’s premier teams.
Live score
It was the team’s best season in 30 years, rising from rock bottom in 2021 to top qualifiers.
And the last game before the playoffs saw a sell out crowd at the TSB Stadium for the first time in the Taranaki Steelformers Airs franchise history.
To top it off general manager Mitchell Langton was named basketball’s general manager of the year.
But the fairytale didn’t have the happy ending the Airs’ increasing number of fans were hoping for.
The dream of winning the National Basketball League (NBL) came crashing down in a ‘’crazy’’ few minutes of basketball on Thursday night.
National basketball league NZ final
The Otago Nuggets have completed a fairytale run in the New Zealand National Basketball League, clinching victory 81-73 over the Auckland Tuatara in Saturday night’s grand final.
Having completed the regular season as the third seed, and the Tuatara in fifth, both sides were a surprise inclusion in the trophy match.
However, having outperformed their higher-ranked opponents earlier in the playoffs, both were worthy of the chance to secure their inaugural NZNBL title.
The Nuggets were dominant across the match, taking the lead at each quarter time with 22-17, 43-42 and 64-59, but the Tuatara did not make it easy for them.
Guards Keith Williams and Tray Boyd scored crucial points across the match for the Nuggets, Williams top-scoring with 34 points and Boyd with 18 of his own.
Captain Sam Timmins says the victory is a “testament” to the “hard work” of the Nuggets’ organisation and that he couldn’t be happier for his teammates.
“It just can’t be understated from the top of the organisation right all the way down to the DPs (development players) back home in Dunedin that come and go in their free time to play with us,” Timmins told.