Chu Yong-hong's tip-in basket with time expiring gave the Bank of Taiwan a 98-97 win over the Yulon Dinos at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium Sunday night, for their first-ever postseason victory.
Four different bankers swarmed the offensive glass after a miss by Yang Jing-ming with less than two seconds remaining and Chu's outreached hand somehow found the ball for the tip-in just ahead of the buzzer.
"If you keep fighting back like we did, the breaks will eventually come our way," Chu said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SBL
His fellow bankers have played three tough matches against the Dinos, dropping the first two by a combined total of 11 points after late-game breakdowns.
But with their postseason fate on the line, the heavy underdogs rose to the occasion to beat the two-time champs and force Game 4 in the best-of-five series, as they now trail the Dinos 2-1 in the series.
Both clubs traded leads as large as nine points, with the Dinos getting an early 25-15 lead after the first quarter before the bankers answered with an outstanding second quarter to cut the Dinos lead to two by the end of the first half.
Bank of Taiwan opened the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 53-48 lead, which they kept until the fourth quarter before falling behind to the Dinos late the game to set up the final-second drama.
Yang played up to his national-squad potential, leading the bankers with 26 points.
All-Star Dinos center Tseng Wen-ding had a second straight game-high, 27-point night in the loss.
Taiwan Beer 89, Tigers 84
Ho Sho-cheng came out of a silent first half with 25 second-half points to help Taiwan Beer edge past the Dacin Tigers 89-84, also forcing the first-round series into Game 4.
Trailing the Tigers 2-0 after the first two games of the series, the brew crew finally found their shooting touch in the second half to rally from a four-point (42-38) halftime deficit for the sweep-avoiding victory.
After the brewers remained off the board for the game's first five minutes, they managed to regroup with two monstrous three-pointers from Lin "The Beast" Chih-jeh to finish out the first quarter down 22-14.
With Lin taking over the game on offense and reserve player Wang Jien-wei pouring in nine points in the second quarter, Taiwan Beer cut further into the Tigers' lead during the second quarter to make it 42-38 by the end of the first half.
The Tigers were able to up their lead by a deuce in the third quarter with an outstanding effort from guard Cheng Chang-jung.
But that was all the offense that they could muster as Ho drained three of his five 3s for the game in the decisive fourth quarter to nail the win.
Tigers captain Tien Lei led all players with 34 points and a dozen rebounds.
NBA
Former Nets guard Anthony Johnson made two free throws with 0.9 seconds left, and the Indiana Pacers beat New Jersey 90-88 to take Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday.
Jermaine O'Neal scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter for the sixth-seeded Pacers, who became the first road team to win a game in this postseason.
Stephen Jackson scored 18 points and reserve Fred Jones added 15 for the Pacers, who forced Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, two of New Jersey's "Big Three" into horrible shooting games. Johnson, who was Kidd's backup in New Jersey when the Nets made consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002-2003, finished with 12 points and six assists.
Carter had 31 points and 13 rebounds, but shot 12-of-33 from the field. Kidd was only 2-of-11 for five points for the Nets, the Atlantic Division champions.
Nenad Krstic scored 22 points and Richard Jefferson added 19 for the Nets, who fell to 3-12 in first-round Game 1s.
Suns 107, Lakers 102
At Phoenix, Tim Thomas had 22 points and a career playoff-high 15 rebounds to help Phoenix escape with a win over Los Angeles.
Thomas, sent home by the Chicago Bulls for what they thought was a bad attitude for most of this season, then released and signed by Phoenix on March 3, made his first eight shots and finished 8-for-10, 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
Steve Nash had 20 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 1:07 to play, and 10 assists. The Suns made 32 of 35 free throws, 8-for-8 by Nash. Shawn Marion added 19 points, Boris Diaw 15 and Leandro Barbosa 15, nine in the fourth quarter.
Kobe Bryant, the NBA scoring champion with 35.4 points per game, scored 22 points -- barely half the 42.5 he averaged against Phoenix in the regular season -- on 7-for-21 shooting, 1-of-6 3s.
But Lamar Odom had 21 points and 14 rebounds and Luke Walton matched his career best in any NBA game with 19 points.
Pistons 92, Bucks 74
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Rasheed Wallace scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half and Richard Hamilton scored 21 to lead Detroit in Game 1 of its first-round series.
The top-seeded Pistons were so balanced offensively that they started the final quarter with four scorers in double figures, and were so tough at the other end that Milwaukee didn't have one.
Bucks star Michael Redd was held to 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting after averaging 25.4 during the regular season and 30 in four games against the Pistons. Reserve Charlie Bell led Milwaukee with 13 points.
The Pistons will also host Game 2 in the best-of-seven series Wednesday.
Detroit's Tayshaun Prince scored 15, Chauncey Billups had 14 and reserve Antonio McDyess added nine points.
Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, had eight points midway through the second quarter, but finished with just 11. Jamaal Magloire added 11 for the Bucks.
Mavericks 103, Grizzlies 93
At Dallas, the Mavericks shredded the NBA's stingiest defense with 60 first-half points and got key baskets when they needed them the rest of the way in the opener of their first-round series with Memphis.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 31 points -- 19 coming in the early surge -- yet what really won this for Dallas was its energy and its depth. Backup center Erick Dampier exemplified both with 12 points, 12 rebounds and plays like a crowd-thrilling dunk off a loose ball just before halftime and an offensive rebound that turned into a three-point play early in the fourth quarter.
Memphis is now 0-9 in its postseason history, extending what already was the wrong kind of league record. After being swept by San Antonio and Phoenix for the last two years, it was hoping that coming into the playoffs on an 8-1 roll would change its luck.
Memphis' next chance comes in Game 2 on Wednesday.
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