Sài Gòn Heat celebrates winning the VBA League for the third time in a row. — Photo dantri.com.vn
HÀ NỘI — Sài Gòn Heat has won the Việt Nam Basketball Association (VBA) League for the third time in a row.
The Heat defeated Hà Nôi Buffaloes 87-78 in the final of this year’s season at Hoàng Mai Gymnasium in Hà Nội at the weekend to take the title.
In the previous two finals, the Heat defeated the Buffaloes on their home turf and they continued to show their superiority as a guest in the third final.
Heat overwhelmed the match from the opening whistle. The home-field advantage only helped the Buffaloes balance the game with their opponent in the first five minutes of the first half. After warming up, the visitors quickly deployed their forte attacks and took a 22-19 lead.
In the next two quarters, the home team Buffaloes played defence to limit the direct breakthrough situations of the visitors. This tactic of the Buffaloes proved effective when the attacks of the Heat’s No 1 key player Madarious Gibbs were limited.
However, the Buffaloes’ defence also created space for many players of Sài Gòn Heat with long throws. Phú Vinh, Kim Bản, and Hoàng Tú in turn found their opportunities to finish successfully. The lead of the away team was raised to 16 points, a rare difference in a VBA final. The tight defence of the away team stifled the home team's scoring stars like Tâm Đinh and Jeffery Stubbs.
In the last quarter, the Buffaloes found a space in the Heat defence and they took advantage of this opportunity to narrow the gap but belated efforts did not help the representative of the capital's basketball create a miracle, having to accept the third consecutive defeat in the final series.
While with this victory, the Heat became the first team in the history of the Vietnamese professional basketball tournament to win three consecutive titles. — VNS
OVietnam