Asean Basketball League: Hong Kong Eastern thrash Zamboanga Valientes to all but secure final 4 spot with 3 games left
- Eastern hold Philippines opponents to just seven points in second quarter on way to 83-55 win
- Only three straight losses and heavy defeat at hands of Valientes in Ho Chi Minh City next Tuesday can deny Hong Kong side
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Hong Kong Eastern all but secured a spot in the final four of the Asean Basketball League with three games to spare after they thrashed Zamboanga Valientes 83-55 in Kuala Lumpur.
Victory moved Eastern to the top of the table on 19 points, with just the final round of matches in Vietnam to come.
While they could still finish the regular season knocked off top spot by Saigon Heat or NS Matrix Malaysia, both of whom are a point behind and play each other on Wednesday, Eastern hold an almost unassailable lead over the rest.
The sheer size of their triumph at MABA Stadium on Tuesday night means they would have to lose all their remaining games, plus be heavily beaten by Valientes in Ho Chi Minh City next Tuesday not to still hold the head-to-head record.
“Before the final leg of the regular season and we are in the final four, that is something I would like to congratulate my players,” Zeljko Pavlicevic, the Eastern head coach, said.
With both teams playing their third game in four days, Eastern were more determined. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead inside the opening three minutes and never looked back.
Despite shooting just 23 per cent from behind the arc and missing almost half of the free throws, the 2017 champions made it up by shooting 63 per cent on the court.
Eastern’s stern defence made it tough for the Philippines outfit, who managed to shoot just 25 per cent from the field and only seven points in the second quarter.
An 18-point lead at half-time eventually became a 28-point blowout for Eastern, who kept their more experienced starters on the court for much of the final quarter to keep the massive lead intact.
Two-time NBA champion Mario Chalmers, who led Valientes to two wins in his first two ABL games, failed to work his magic again.
The former Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies guard managed a game-high 19 points but he shot only 33 per cent. Rudy Lingganay was the only other Valientes player to get into double figures.
Chris McLaughlin was dominating under the rim on both ends for Eastern, chipping in 17 points to go with 19 rebounds.
“Going into this game we just try to treat every game the exact same way and bring the energy,” McLaughlin said. “We were focusing on finishing the circuit strong and by doing that we reached the final four.”
O’Darien Bassett added 18 points while Tonny Trocha-Moreles and Dominic Gilbert had 13 apiece.
Eastern will play three more games in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, starting with Valientes on Valentine’s Day, before going back to back against NS Matrix and Bangkok Cooly Tigers on February 16 and 17.
“It is a great opportunity for us to get better, we feel like we can play better,” McLaughlin said. “Moving forward, these three games will be great practice for us to get a little better each game [before the playoffs begin].”
There is unlikely to be much rest for the Canadian import and the rest of the starters despite the comfortable position they find themselves in. Despite Pavlicevic hinting that he intends to give more minutes to squad players, he said the was to always “win the games”.
