The meteoric rise of the rookies' maiden one-point win over Manawatu Jets was quickly forgotten inside 24 hours down the road south against Wellington Saints.

The Tasmanians almost expectedly went missing in a 87-60 capitulation to the competition benchmark that included four Olympians for the Tall Blacks.

Huskies coach Anthony Stewart was left somewhat frustrated with his side that could not compete without missing top signings Bryan Michaels and Marcel Jones.

The Huskies were totally outclassed by the stronger bodies and their defence was terribly exposed by the hometown Saints.

But Stewart was optimistic the side could put out a better performance against Hawkes Bay in Napier.

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"It is what it is," Stewart told WIN News.

"We were probably expected that we were hoping to keep it a bit closer.

"But Hawkes Bay is another game that we can win.

"If we can go home 2-1, we have done a really good job."

American star Tre Nichols shone out with 18 points, fellow import Jalen Billups added 14 points and captain Craig Moller scored 11 points in the heavy loss.

The Huskies trailed by just three points at quarter-time before the Saints dominated the second term 24-10 on their way to winning all four quarters.