Will Magnay has put his injury-riddled seasons behind him.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Tasmania JackJumpers centre put in a monster performance to take the club to the NBL semi-finals against Perth Wildcats.
The three-game series will start on Friday, March 8 at RAC Arena with tip-off at 9.30pm.
Tassie ran away in the final quarter to win their seeding qualifier 92-76 against Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday night at Derwent Entertainment Centre.
Maynay, who struggled to put games together while managing a knee injury the past two seasons, was dominant at both ends of the court.
Duty called when fellow tall Marcus Lee left the court in the opening minute with a shoulder injury after getting tangled up with the Hawks' Sam Froling while rebounding.
Magnay knocked down a season-high 25 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and had two steals in his 30 minutes of play.
The 25-year-old roared with the adoring crowd as the game wore on.
His blocks early in the fourth stanza dampened the Hawks' spirit as they only scored 13 points for the quarter.
"This building is amazing, (whether we're) playing well or not they're always going crazy so I'm just trying to relish and enjoy it," Magnay said.
"I'm glad we get to come back one more time and play another game in front of them and hopefully we can continue to push that out and play some more games."
It was the type of performance that had commentators talking about his NBA hopes.
Coach Scott Roth, who passionately told the crowd post match "this is our house", appreciated hearing of those comments.
"His presence around the rim is undeniable, his ability to roll is undeniable but right now it's just one step at a time and those things take care of themselves, you can't get too far down the road," he said.
Roth explained Magnay's current focus was on putting games and longer minutes together.
"It's about stringing days together and doing that process over and over so it's repeatable so he continues to get stronger and more comfortable with his body," he said.
"We've been moderating him around the 20-minute mark for minutes. I think this is the second time he pushed up to 30 in these last six weeks so it's a good sign."
Meanwhile, Lee was back on the bench smiling and supporting his teammates with his left shoulder in a sling before the first quarter was finished.
Roth said it may have just been a scare.
"The doctors seem very optimistic and the good news is we have five or six days before we have to travel again," he said.
Wednesday's match was a physical affair and the Tassie crowd got right into it, especially in the entertaining third quarter.
The JackJumpers' Jack McVeigh was up-and-about and scrapped impressively to win an offensive rebound among multiple Hawks.
Once up on his feet, he spread his wings and motioned to the crowd to get loud.
He was back in the thick of it later as he committed an unsportsmanlike foul against Lachlan Olbrich.
It led to four free-throws and Olbrich missed them all which sent the crowd into a frenzy.