Denying Jairus Holder's 40 points, Nha Trang Dolphins made a spectacular escape against Dragons
The Nha Trang Dolphins had a big lead at one point thanks to their extremely "burning" 3-pointing style, but then they almost had to taste the bitter fruit when it was the turn of the hot-handed Danang Dragons and created impressive series of points.
Confronting at Nha Trang University, Danang Dragons faced the home team Nha Trang Dolphins with the goal of finding the first victory at VBA Regular Season 2023.
Almost the "dragon of the Han River" army found their first victory, unfortunately their upstream screen was blocked in the last seconds.
Everything started very smoothly with the home team Nha Trang Dolphins, the team is in extremely good 3-point form recently. Led by Madarious Gibbs and insider Huynh Vinh Quang, the Dolphins pocketed 13 long throws after the first two innings.
On the side of Danang Dragons, William Tran and Jairus Holder tried their best to keep the away team in pursuit. But they were almost powerless in the first half of the match with the opponent's good long throw, accepting a lead of more than 20 points.
Entering the third half, everything suddenly turned around when the feeling of the Dolphins was lost and the Danang Dragons were suddenly impressed.
Still the name Jairus Holder shines on the away team's attack. Besides him, there are also internal soldiers who also gradually participated in the 3-point rain such as rookie Kaillum Do, Vietnamese-born player William Tran or old general Trieu Han Minh.
This impressive series of points helped Danang Dragons gradually close the gap with many short series of points, sometimes almost bringing the match to an even position when the two teams were only 1 point away.
But when the big moment came, the star of the match also appeared. Madarious Gibbs gave up ineffective long throws to attack the basket, continuously scoring for the Nha Trang Dolphins.
Outside the 3-point round, Son Minh Tam was the only name with a good feeling and launched two 3-pointers in time to interrupt the opponent's excitement circuit.
Jairus Holder had the opportunity to equalize and send the game into extra time, but his 3-pointer went incorrectly before the pursuit of two Dolphins players.
The match ended with the final score of 108-105, the victory and also a spectacular escape of coach Predrag Lukic's team at home.
Robert Sampson was selected as Player of The Game with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists. Madarious Gibbs is right behind with 20 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds but also 5 turnovers.
The duo Son Minh Tam and Huynh Vinh Quang scored 14 and 17 points, respectively, throwing in a total of 9 3-pointers successfully in the whole match. Dominique Tham contributed 18 points, 7 assists and 1 steal.
On the side of Danang Dragons, Jairus Holder had the most sublime match since arriving in Vietnam, scoring 40 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and having a long throw performance of 7-14 3PT.
William Tran scored 24 points with 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Trieu Han Minh is the remaining outstanding name with 14 points (3-4 3PT). The whole Dragons team threw in 16 3-pointers in this match, the index is not low at VBA. Unfortunately, that's still not enough.
In the next match, Danang Dragons will return to Son Tra National Stadium to play the last Regular Season match at VBA 2023, welcoming Ho Chi Minh City Wings on the evening of August 26.
Meanwhile, Nha Trang Dolphins will continue their "home-stand" series with a match against Cantho Catfish on the evening of August 29 at Nha Trang University's National Stadium.
