Saigon Heat upstream choked in extra time, bringing the ABL playoffs series to Game 3
There was a time when Saigon Heat was leading with a 2-digit difference, but the fighting spirit and receiving fire from the stands full of fans at Nguyen Du Stadium helped teachers and coach Matt Van Pelt revive, especially in final match.
Today's match comes with an imperative to win because only this result can keep "Mr 30's hopes of reaching the final." And everything started exactly the same way it ended with an extremely tense match. The difference between the two teams was only 1 point after the first two innings.
In the third half, the Singapore Slingers were the better team to create an 11-point advantage (score 52-41). Then they continued to maintain a 9-point gap until the third half had more than 3 minutes left. Here the Heat suddenly opened a series of 14-7 points to equalize the score 63-63.
While the two sides struggled point by point with extremely tight play, Saigon Heat had the shine of a hero, which is Evan Gilyard.
Having no sense of finishing and mainly taking points on the free-throw line, Gilyard made two successful average throws at the most critical moment.
He respectively eliminated Xavier Alexander and Kentrell Barkley to launch two extremely sweet throws, equalizing the score for the home team Nguyen Du and bringing the match into OT.
The story of falling into the lead again occurred in extra time when the Slingers played better, leading by 5 points (77-72). But thanks to the work of Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh and Gilyard's and-1 "clutch" situation, the Heat equalized the score 77-77.
While the Singapore Slingers had two "self-destruct" situations from Xavier Alexander when they got 2 turnovers on two game-defining phases, Phu Vinh and Gilyard continued to shine on the free-throw line to bring Saigon Heat to victory. choking 81-79.
From a lackluster performance, Evan Gilyard became the star of the Saigon Heat, scoring 20 points with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal. His finishing stats were not high with only 6-23 FG, but Gilyard had 4 FGMs at the most important moment of the game.
In addition to Evan Gilyard, the most prominent person in attack today was Hassan Thomas with a series of situations to save "Mr 30", including extremely well-timed 3-pointers and 16 points, 7 rebounds all game.
Also 20 points like Evan Gilyard is Jairus Holder. Jeremy Combs is right behind with 14 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.
With this victory, Saigon Heat will play Game 3 of the ABL Playoffs 2023 series tomorrow. The opponent is still Singapore Slingers and the match will take place at 20:00, Thursday, March 9.
