VBA 2024: Heat make great comeback to keep their winning streak

Saigon Heat had their fourth win in a row. Photo courtesy of VBA

HCM CITY – The final match of the VBA’s second week of competition was a clash between the two top teams in the rankings, the Saigon Heat and the Hanoi Buffaloes.

This was also the first time Hassan Thomas, the star of the Buffaloes, was able to play this season.

Both teams are favoured for the championship this year.

Starting the game cautiously with their best starting lineups with players, both teams played good defence in the first quarter.

The guest’s defence locked Jevonnie Scott and Tim Waale of the Heat, and shooters like Đinh Tiến Công and Jimmy Nguyễn made three pointers from the corner a, the Buffaloes temporarily took a 25-19 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Buffaloes continued to dominate the paint area. In addition to the steady scoring, the “Capital Buffaloes” repeatedly got good play from their quality bench players.

However, this plan was repeatedly foiled by Võ Kim Bản. The Saigon Heat shooter has the hot hand, making three three-pointers.

Thanks to his sharp shooting at the end of the second quarter, the home team still kept the opponent in sight with a score of 42-47.

Within a minute in the third quarter, the Heat equalised the score at 47-47 thanks to the duo Jevonnie Scott and Võ Kim Bản.

From there, the match became unpredictable and exciting as the lead changed hands many times. The Buffaloes only led the Heat by three (71-68).

In the final quarter, both teams played neck and neck. The turning point only came when the clock struck two minutes left, and Jevonnie Scott’s unexpected three-pointer, Elijah Weaver followed with many key shots, bringing the home team to a lead of 84-82.

Eager to reclaim the game, the two main players of the Buffaloes, Hassan Thomas and Devin Peterson, made mistakes on the offensive front.

In contrast to the guests, Elijah Weaver continued to score points on the free throw line and helped the Heat get their fourth win in a row.

The match ended with a final score of 87-84.

Elijah Weaver was the Player of the Game with 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. “Keeping our spirits up was the key that helped us come back and get a win. Currently, the Saigon Heat has temporarily found a formula that leads to success. However, we still have a lot to work on in the upcoming journey,” Elijah Weaver shared.

Besides Elijah Weaver, the Heat’s offensive front was also shouldered by Jevonnie Scott (24 points) and Võ Kim Bản (19 points).

On the other side of the front line, Hassan Thomas led with 24 points. In this match, the Buffaloes created a lot of pressure when leading most of the time, and forced the defending champion to lose the ball (turnovers) 19 times.

Despite the loss, coach Erik Rashad’s team came the closest to ending the Heat’s winning streak.

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