The New Taipei Kings survived a close encounter against the Kaohsiung Steelers and former NBA No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett on Saturday to take sole possession of first place in the P. LEAGUE+.
The Steelers, the cellar dwellers in the six-team league, had a road upset on their mind as they took a 54-52 lead at halftime behind 25 points and nine rebounds from Bennett, who would finish with 36 points and 13 rebounds for the game.
The visitors got a further lift early in the third quarter when captain Lu Cheng-ju (???) scored the 6,000th point of his career in Taiwan basketball.
A total of 5,743 of those came in the semi-professional Super Basketball League — Taiwan’s only top-flight domestic basketball league for most of the last two decades before the P.LEAGUE+ was founded in 2020.
The Kings eventually established themselves as the better team, however, taking an 81-75 lead after three quarters and holding off the Steelers in the fourth to improve their record to 13-6, giving them a half-game edge over the 13-7 Fubon Braves.
The Steelers fell to 5-16.
Kings head coach Ryan Marchand told CNA his team’s defense was subpar in the first half and had to adjust to take charge of the game.
“I know over the course of 48 minutes there’s going to be a couple of bad stretches, but I think we’ve been shortening those stretches and that really helped us in the second half,” he said.
Former NBA veteran DeAndre Liggins played more aggressively than he had in recent games and recorded a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds.
“For him (Liggins) it’s just picking his spots. You know he’s not a scorer per se, he’s a little bit more of a creator on offense, but [we’re] showing him when he can be aggressive and when he needs to pull back,” Marchand said.
P. LEAGUE+ players fined for altercation: On Friday, American Devin Robinson of the Taoyuan Pilots and Hsinchu Jko Lioneers forward Lin Yi-huei (???) were both fined NT$25,000 (US$871.42) by the league for cheap shots taken during the third quarter of their game at Taoyuan Arena.
In addition to the fine, Lin was suspended for two games for instigating the moves by discreetly striking Robinson in the groin area as the American headed back to the defensive end of the court early in the quarter.
Robinson retaliated on the team’s next defensive possession, waiting for Lin to drive to the basket and then smacking the defenseless player in the face well after he had passed the ball to a teammate.
Lin fell to the ground and had to be helped off the court, while Robinson was ejected by the referees.
The Lioneers defeated the Pilots 116-97 to improve to 11-9 and move within a half game of third place. The Pilots remained in fifth place at 6-13.
Suns outhustle GhostHawks in T1 LEAGUE: The Taichung Wagor Suns outhustled the Tainan TSG GhostHawks 105-88 on their home court at the National Taiwan University of Sport Gymnasium on Saturday to collect their fourth consecutive win.
Suns power forward Sani Sakakini, the T1 LEAGUE’s import player of the month for January and March, recorded his third triple double of the season with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists.
e has half of the Tl LEAGUE’s six triple-doubles so far this season in the league’s inaugural year.
Meanwhile, GhostHawks power forward Chuck Garcia led all scorers with 29 points.
The Suns remained in second place in the six-team T1 LEAGUE standings with a 15-8 record, while the GhostHawks remained at the bottom at 4-18.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel