Saigon Heat lost the final of the Southeast Asian tournament
The two teams drew 1-1 after the first two games, in the final series taking place in a three-win-two format. In the decisive game, Saigon Heat had the home field advantage but did not enter well. The Vietnamese representative was led 9-24 after the first half, and could not come upstream in the following three innings.
Evan Gilyard, who scored 41 points in game 2, continued to play impressively in game 3. However, 23 points and six assists from the 24-year-old American defender were not enough to help Saigon Heat avoid defeat. In the last half, the excellence of the 1m78-tall player sometimes helped the host to narrow the gap to less than 10 points. But letting the opponent rebound continuously at the end of the game made Heat's hope no longer available. In the end, the Vietnamese representative lost 60-73 and lost with a total score of 1-2. Hong Kong Eastern won the Southeast Asian Professional Basketball Championship (ABL) for the second time, after being crowned in 2017.
Second place is the best achievement of Saigon Heat in ABL history. They created many new milestones, when ABL returned after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19. In the main season, the Heat took the top spot for the first time, with 11 wins and three losses. Thanks to that, teachers and students Matt Van Pelt entered the semi-finals for the third time - where they defeated the Singapore Slingers after three games.
ABL 2023 takes place in a different format from previous seasons, because this is considered a restart season. There are eight teams participating in the tournament, namely Saigon Heat (Vietnam), Singapore Slingers (Singapore), Bangkok Tigers (Thailand), Hong Kong Eastern (Hong Kong - China), Macau Black Bears (Macau - China), Louvre Indonesia (Indonesia), Zamboanga Valientes (Philippines) and NS Matrix (Malaysia).
The teams competed in four stages in the main season, before determining the four semi-finals as Saigon Heat, NS Matrix, Singapore Slingers and Hong Kong Eastern. In the final, Saigon Heat suffered a loss when coach Van Pelt was absent from the decision game for personal reasons. Only Gilyard and Hassan Thomas shine is not enough, when Eastern's foreign players all play well, especially Trocha Morelos - who won the best award in the final series.
