The top two teams in Taiwan's Super Basketball League finished the weekend 2-0 records, but neither the league-leading Yulon Dinos nor the second-placed Videoland Hunters felt comfortable with their performances at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.
The Hunters' shaky 73-66 win over the last-placed Sina Lions on Friday was an excellent example of how the stalkers ended up playing down to their opponents' level.
The Hunters' 19 turnovers exposed their inconsistent ball handling ability, especially with the game on the line.
The Dinos 89-73 win over the Bank of Taiwan on Saturday saw the bankers to reduce a 25-point Dinos lead down to nine points during the fourth quarter.
After taking a 22-point halftime lead against the Dacin Tigers on Sunday, the Dinos watched the Tigers wear down a lineup that was made up of mostly second-string players in the second half to a point that their lead was reduced to eight points with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Even though they would eventually win by 14 in an 85-71 final, the Tigers definitely gave the defending champions an unexpected scare.
"You want a close game, and we give you a close game," Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan joked after the game.
Lee now realizes that a lack of depth may come back and haunt the Dinos in the playoffs.
The Lions also saw a 16-point halftime lead evaporate in under 10 minutes when the beermen stormed back with a 35-12 third quarter to take a 63-56 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Taiwan Beer pocketed the 78-73 victory to even its record at 13-13 -- good enough for a tie with the ETTV Antelopes for fourth-place in the league standings.
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