Game Preview – Indian Panthers v Canterbury Rams 29/04/25

Get ready for a slice of history as the Canterbury Rams and Indian Panthers clash for the first time ever. Can the Rams carry their dominant play over to Pukekohe and extend their winning streak? Let’s hope so!

Game Info

Tuesday, April 29th, 2025.

Rapid League: 6:00 PM. Sal’s NBL: 7:00pm.

Franklin Pool & Leisure Centre, Pukekohe.

Watch live on Sky Sport 2 (NZ), ESPN3 (USA), FIBA YouTube (Globally)

So, What Are We Dealing With?

While the Indian Panthers have experienced an unfortunate series of inconveniences and disruptions, they’ve also provided some of the most entertaining moments of the season so far. Let’s take a look at their core players.

Tushal Singh, SG
He may not be the most physically imposing player on the court, but oh boy, that man can hoop! A crafty slasher to the rim with a noteworthy pull-up jumper, Singh is starting to find his footing in the Sal’s NBL. He dropped a delightful 16 points against the Manawatū Jets last week, increasing his scoring average to 11.5 points, while shooting 61.7% inside the arc.

Shengzhe Li, C.
The big fella! Li is a mountain of a man, the likes of which are not so common in this part of the world. Standing at 6’10” with the stature of an offensive lineman, where Li lacks in footspeed, he makes up for in strength. Li’s biggest opponent right now appears to be the game officials, as he is currently racking up 4.3 fouls per game in 18.8 minutes of action.

Aaron Blessen, PF.
It’s a blessing that the Panthers were able to get Blessen locked and loaded in the opening rounds of the season. See what I did there? In all seriousness, the undersized 4-man loves to get downhill, where he is able to bruise his way to a bucket or two. Across 7 games, he’s averaging 8.7 points per game and maintaining an offensive rebounding rate of 9.5% – good for 8th best in the competition.

The Hot Topic: Shooters shoot!

The Rams were in red-hot form Saturday night in Tāmaki Makaurau. Scratch that. White-hot form. Auckland suffered a 53-point defeat on home soil to the reigning champs. The key to this success? A very accurate long-range shooting night from the entire team. 

CJ Penha & Sean Macdonald each went for 7 made threes, with the rest of the team combining for an additional 8 more triples. For the number nerds at home, that’s a scorching 47% from deep on 1.4 points per shot.

The Indian Panthers better be ready to get a hand up if this trend travels to the Franklin Pool & Leisure Centre.

Injury Report (as of 28/04/25)

Canterbury Rams
OUT – Jake Holmes (NZ Select Team)
OUT – Mana Martin (NZ Select Team)
OUT – Jonty Bond (NZ Select Team)

Indian Panthers
All available.