Bank of Taiwan kept their hold on first place in the Super Basketball League (SBL), despite losing 83-68 to the Yulon Luxgen Dinos yesterday at the Kaohsiung Arena (K-Arena).
Despite their loss, Bank of Taiwan center Charles Garcia from the US added to his stellar performance this season by netting a game-high 33 points and picking up 13 rebounds.
Also at the K-Arena yesterday, Kinmen Kaoliang edged the Dacin Tigers 72-69, followed by Taiwan Beer’s 77-73 victory over the Fubon Braves in the evening.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
After yesterday, the Bankers have collected eight wins to secure their place on top of the rankings, with Yulon and Pauian Archiland tied for second place with seven wins each.
Garcia, in recognition of his key role with the Bankers this season, was voted the league’s MVP for last month.
The 2.03m player from Los Angeles stands at the top of the stats tables with a game average of 23.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists last month.
In the battle of two US centers on Friday, Garcia had the edge in baskets over Quincy Davis, despite Davis leading Pauian Archiland to a narrow three-point win over Bank of Taiwan.
In that match, which ended 81-78, Garcia scored 16 points compared with Davis’ 10, but the latter took the crown for rebounds with 16, four better than Garcia.
Also on Friday, Yulon defeated Kinmen Kaoliang 83-66, while the Dacin Tigers thrashed Taiwan Beer 71-58 at the K-Arena.
Many fans petitioned league officials to add Garcia to the national squad, which would require Garcia to follow in Davis’ footsteps by becoming a naturalized citizen after playing for three seasons in Taiwan and agreeing to drop his US citizenship.
“I am happy to learn that the fans want me to play for Taiwan, but for me to have such an opportunity, I have to prove myself in the SBL,” Garcia said.
“In the coming weeks, I will talk to Davis about his naturalization process and what he went through. From my understanding, Davis made big contributions to the national squad and earned the respect of his coaches and fellow players,” Garcia said.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
RSS