Saigon Heat fell in the 4th round with a series of 19-4 points, losing to NS Matrix Malaysia
As the most notable competition in the third stage of the ABL Invitational 2023, Saigon Heat was a guest at the packed MABA stadium of NS Matrix Deers, a Malaysian team.
Competing under great pressure from nearly 1,000 rival fans, Saigon Heat also faced difficulties before playing due to the absence of coach Matt Van Pelt. The American captain was forced to go to the airport to return home urgently because of family matters.
Despite many difficulties, Saigon Heat was unexpectedly the better team thanks to Jairus Holder's very "burning" hands. Particularly in the first half, the American foreign soldier scored 15 points, including 4 successful 3-pointers, bringing the difference to 10 points for Heat.
But it was Holder who interrupted his excitement circuit when he got the third personal error at the beginning of the second half because of his back-and-forth with the opponent. However, "Mr 30" has the shine of other names to maintain the lead.
Kim Ban, Evan Gilyard, Hassan Thomas and striker Jeremy Combs continuously "fired", giving the Heat a 4 point lead after the first two innings (the score 44-40).
Round 3 saw the NS Matrix team rise strongly in attack, receiving energy from the enthusiastic cheers of the audience.
From the score 49-46 in favor of the Heat, the Malaysian team opened a series of 11-0 points to take an 8-point lead, forcing coach David Grice to call a timeout.
Heat then got a mental shock and responded with a 12-2 shake to once again leapfrog the opponent, taking the advantage before the final round.
The suffocating tug-of-war was still maintained in the first 4 minutes of the 4th half, however, "Mr 30" unexpectedly collapsed unfortunately. Leading the opponent by 6 points, Heat allowed NS Matrix to set up a series of 8-2 points.
Not stopping here, another series of 7-2 points of the Malaysian club appeared thanks to the work of Tevin Glass and new foreigner Isaiah Williams.
Jairus Holder was the top scorer for the Saigon Heat with 30 points (12-20 FG, 5-9 3PT), 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
Right behind him was Hassan Thomas with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Jeremy Combs and Evan Gilyard scored 16 and 11 respectively. Khoa Tran and Vo Kim Record a total of 8 points for this Heat match.
On the side of NS Matrix Malaysia, Isaiah Williams put his best effort against Saigon Heat after 2 "sustaining" matches, scoring 24 points and 5 assists. Right behind him are 22 points from Tevin Glass, 19 points from insider Wong Yi Hou and 15 points from Amir Williams.
The result of this match pushed Saigon Heat to 2nd place on the ABL Invitational 2023 standings with 8 wins in 11 matches (8-3). On top is NS Matrix Deers Malaysia, the team has extended the unbeaten streak to 9 matches (total record of 9-2).
Today's competition also closes the third stage of the ABL season 11. Soon, all 8 teams will move to Vietnam on February 9 and 10, preparing for the final leg of the match starting on Sunday, February 12 at Nguyen Du gymnasium.
