The New Taipei Kings yesterday survived the Kaohsiung Steelers and 2013 NBA No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett to take possession of first place in the P.League+.
The Steelers, at the bottom of the six-team league, had a road upset on their mind as they took a 54-52 lead at halftime with 25 points and nine rebounds from Bennett, who finished the game with 36 points and 13 rebounds.
Captain Lu Cheng-ju gave the visitors a further boost early in the third quarter when he scored the 6,000th point of his career in Taiwan. A total of 5,743 of those came in the semi-professional Super Basketball League, Taiwan’s main professional league for 20 years until the P.League+ started in 2020.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The Kings pushed ahead to end the period 81-75, before finishing the game 105-94, improving their record to 13-6 to edge past the Fubon Braves at the top of the standings.
Calling his side’s defense subpar in the first half, Kings head coach Ryan Marchand said they had to adjust to take charge of the game.
“I know over the course of 48 minutes there’s going to be a couple of bad stretches, but I think we’ve been shortening those stretches and that really helped us in the second half,” he said.
Former NBA veteran DeAndre Liggins, playing more aggressively than he had in recent games, recorded a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds.
“For him [Liggins], it’s just picking his spots. You know he’s not a scorer per se, he’s a little bit more of a creator on offense, but [we’re] showing him when he can be aggressive and when he needs to pull back,” Marchand said.
In yesterday’s games, the Hsinchu JKO Lioneers beat the Braves 114-103, while the Formosa Taishin Dreamers beat the Taoyuan Pilots 111-77.
On Friday, the league fined the Pilots’ Devin Robinson of the US and Lioneers forward Lin Yi-huei NT$25,000 for cheap shots taken during Hsinchu’s 116-97 win over Taoyuan.
Lin was also suspended for two games for instigating the altercation by hitting Robinson in the groin area early in the third quarter.
Robinson retaliated on the team’s next defensive possession, waiting for Lin to drive to the basket and then smacking him in the face well after he had passed the ball to a teammate. Lin fell to the ground and had to be helped off the court, while Robinson was ejected.
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