The Taranaki Mountain Airs made it two-from-two for the season against the Auckland Pirates with a 96-92 win in a National Basketball League match Auckland last night.

More importantly, the win maintains their faint hopes of making the top-six playoffs with three games remaining. On the other side of the ledger, the loss ended the Pirates' playoff chances.

"We talked about the importance of this game and winning. It gives us something to play for against the Saints on Friday," Taranaki coach David Bublitz said.

"We started well but Auckland kept coming back at us.

"It was nice they were chasing us as chasing teams takes a lot of energy."

Bublitz admitted it had been a tough night juggling players with the high foul count against his team.

"There were a lot of fouls. Television games, they call it softer. They call everything. I've never had to juggle so many guys on fouls. When we were down south, we got hammered and nothing was called. It's more like a rugby match."

The Airs made a flying start to the match, rocketing to a 16-4 lead but by the end of the first quarter the Pirates had trimmed the advantage to three – 24-21.

Taranaki maintained their lead in the second quarter to lead 46-42 at halftime, with the Pirates storming back in the third quarter to level the game at 64-64 before a late rally by the Airs gave them a 70-66 three-quarter lead.

The final quarter could have gone either way, with Auckland starting strongly, then Taranaki countering.

A three-pointer to Kevin Mickens gave the Pirates a sniff at 92-91, before Taranaki sharp shooter Jack Leasure nailed one from outside the arc with 22 seconds remaining to give his side the lead at 94-92.

Taranaki's second import Marcus Campbell sealed the win when he was fouled with five seconds remaining and he slotted both free-throws.

Leasure finished with a game-high 31 points, with Campbell next best with 21. More importantly, Campbell and Taranaki captain Aaron Bailey-Nowell dominated the boards with 12 and 10 rebounds respectively.

Auckland veteran Dillon Boucher was a constant nuisance for the Mountain Airs and he had one of his better nights with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

The Pirates have the rest of the week off, while the Mountain Airs have two more games – against the Wellington Saints in Wellington tomorrow night and the Manawatu Jets in New Plymouth on Sunday.

TARANAKI MOUNTAIN AIRS 96 (Jack Leasure 31, Marcus Campbell 21, Aaron Bailey-Nowell 14)

AUCKLAND PIRATES 92 (Kevin Smith 19, Dillon Boucher 16, Bilal Abdullah 15).