David vs. Goliath. Frodo vs. Sauron. The Saigon Heat vs. the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions.
The comparisons could go on forever; the top-scoring team in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) led by record-setting scorer Marcus Elliott against a Vietnamese side that squeaked into the ABL playoffs in the final berth. And despite some first-half heroics in Game 2 of their playoff semifinal, there would be no fairy-tale ending for the Heat, who lost 86-79 and were swept out for the third consecutive season.
Hong Kong simply had too much firepower, as witnessed in their Game 1 spanking of Saigon, a 114-74 win that shattered the ABL playoff record for margin of victory. In Game 2 it was former New Jersey Nets big man Josh Boone getting it done for Hong Kong, with 27 points to lead all scorers. ABL journeyman Tyler Lamb was not far behind with 26 points.
That said, the Heat made it a lively affair in front of a boisterous home crowd, playing at District 7's CIS Stadium for the first time in four weeks. Saigon brought some stout defense and capitalized on early Lions miscues, surging to a 48-43 halftime lead. Even then Saigon had some dramatic moments, with key sparkplug Lenny Daniel taking an ugly spill and Vietnamese-Swedish marksman Stefan Nguyen left bloodied by an errant elbow. Daniel paced Saigon with 22 points and 10 rebounds. But as the game wore on, Hong Kong's arsenal of weapons was too strong to overcome.
"We were ashamed after what happened (in Game 1)," a subdued Nguyen told Saigoneer after the game. "We looked at ourselves in the mirror."
He went on to say that overcoming the team's 1-7 start to the regular season also provided plenty of adversity for the team before they embarked on a remarkable 7-3 run to squeeze into the playoff picture. It was a sentiment echoed by teammate Moses Morgan.
"It takes a lot of guts to come back from 1-7," he said. "We took (the Game 1 loss) personal. We wanted to come out and play hard."
Still, at the end of the day, the Heat saw themselves bounced in the semifinals. Head coach Tony Garbelotto said the loss summed up a season of might-have-beens, looking back at the injury woes the team dealt with, most notably marquee offseason signing Christien Charles only suiting up for a handful of games.
"I'm proud of the players, playing as hard as they did," a dejected Garbelotto said. "We're all prideful individuals. We'll close this up and see where we'll go next."
Indeed, for Vietnamese ballers, the SEA Games and VBA season loom in the not-too-distant future. But for fans of the ABL, it's difficult to imagine Hong Kong not hoisting the championship banner later this month.
[Photo via ABL]
