The Fubon Braves took a giant stride toward their first championship trophy, defeating Taiwan Beer 83-78 in Game 2 of their Super Basketball League (SBL) Finals series at the Kaohsiung Arena yesterday.
The win gave the Braves a 2-0 series lead, after they prevailed 85-83 in the opening game on Saturday.
Fubon leading man Lin Shu-wei lit up the scoreboard with 19 points last night, while starters Tsai Wen-cheng and American center Charles Garcia got 12 and 10 points respectively.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The Braves finished atop the standing with a 24-12 record in regular-season play, while Taiwan Beer had a 21-15 record.
The Braves are searching for their first SBL title. They lost in the finals last year to Pauian Archiland, while they previously made the finals in 2014 as the Taiwan Mobile Clouded Leopards.
Prior to the start of the series, Braves head coach Hsu Chin-tse said that his team would not take anything for granted.
“Even though we finished first in the regular season, we will have to fight for every game in the finals,” Hsu said.
“It is 50-50 for all the matches and our players must not be complacent against Taiwan Beer, even though in the regular season we had five wins against them and only one loss,” he said.
“The regular season counts for nothing in the playoffs, so our team must make every effort and battle hard for every point,” Hsu added.
Taiwan Beer has been a powerhouse in the SBL, with four championship titles, in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2016.
Both teams had to fight their way through the playoffs, the Braves eliminating the Yulon Dinos 4-2 and Taiwan Beer ousting Pauian Archiland 4-2.
On Saturday, Garcia led the Braves with 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Tsai and Lin got 11 apiece.
American forward Tony Mitchell also had a double-double performance, chipping in 10 points and taking down 12 rebounds.
Taiwan Beer’s two eastern European stars put on a stellar display in a losing cause, with Ukrainian center Ihor Zaytsev putting up 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Lithuanian point guard Edvinas Seskus contributed 15 points and two rebounds.
The best-of-seven championship series moves to the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City for Game 3 tomorrow and Game 4 on Thursday. If needed, Game 5 would be on Saturday, Game 6 on Sunday and Game 7 on Tuesday next week.
All games start at 7pm.
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