With a great performance from the starting five players, the Saigon Heat (black shirt) defeated Cần Thơ Catfish in the first 2020 VBA playoff match. VNS Photo Xuân Đăng
HCM City — Saigon Heat have won over Cần Thơ Catfish 77-67 in the first match of the 2020 VBA playoff.
The match on Tuesday was expected by many fans as it was the rematch of last season's finals. The Heat was praised for a win by experts before the match, thanks to the quality of their starting five players like Christian Juzang, Võ Kim Bản and Joshua Keyes. And the home-grown players on the bench are also in good shape.
However, the Catfish entered the game confidently against the Heat, proving that they were not an easy opponent to play as this was the fourth consecutive time they have reached the playoffs.
With the excellence of Tâm Đinh and Leon Hampton as usual, Catfish had a fair fight with the Heat in the first half of the match.
The first half ended with the buzzer beater shot of Tâm Đinh to help the team close the gap to an eight-point game.
The first half ended with the score 38-30 for the Heat.
However, Cần Thơ was unable to keep that performance in the two games of the second half.
On the other side, coach Kevin Yurkus' players showed a good performance from all positions throughout the match.
The Heat quickly sped up their game play with direct attacks into the paint to take advantage after Leon Hampton of Catfish had three personal fouls.
This strategy immediately took effect as the Saigon Heat continued to widen the gap to 59-46 before entering the final 10 minutes of play.
The Heat maintained its strategy in the last game of the match. The match ended with the score 77-67 for the Heat.
Joshua Keyes of the Heat became the MVP of the match with a double-double 20 points and 18 rebounds.
With this victory, Saigon Heat has a huge advantage before game two of the playoff series which will take place on the evening of November 26 at the VBA Arena in District 12 in HCM City. — VNS
OVietnam