Jeremy Lin sparked the third-quarter turnaround as New Taipei kept its mastery of Meralco, 89-77, to remain unbeaten in the 2023-24 East Asia Super League (EASL), Wednesday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The former NBA vet finished with 23 points, including back-to-back three-pointers to power an 11-0 assault to open the aforementioned period that shifted the momentum in their favor after heading into the break down by five.
“Our coaching staff is making a big emphasis on trying to play on both sides of the floor, to be more unpredictable, to get better flow, and to get better ball movement,” said Lin, who also hauled down 10 rebounds.
Yang Chin-min and the rest of the Kings went on to provide the needed support afterwards, making sure that they’d remain in control en route to chalking their third win in as many games to stay atop Group B of the pan-regional tourney.
Yang shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and registered 13 points. Reinforcement Kenny Manigault supplied 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, while Joseph Lin and Lee Kai-yan chipped in 11 each for the P.League side.
“There’s a lot of guys that can put the ball down and make plays, distribute the ball. We’re just trying to make it pretty hard to guard and I just happened to be, in that stretch, the recipient of some really good passes,” Lin said.
The victory also served as a pleasant return for Hayden Blankley, who came back to the country after playing for Bay Area in the last PBA Commissioner’s Cup. He finished with seven points, two boards, and two dimes.
New Taipei will look to keep its record unblemished against reigning B.League champions Ryukyu on January 10 at home in the Xinzhuang Gymnasium.
Zach Lofton, on the other hand, tallied 20 points to lead the Bolts, which absorbed its second loss in a row and dropped to 1-4.
Allein Maliksi made 12 points while Chris Banchero added 10 as the vets tried to pick it up in the absence of main man Chris Newsome and Aaron Black.
With its playoff hopes flatlining, Meralco will look to save whatever it could against Seoul SK on February 7 at the Jamsil Student’s Gymnasium.
The Scores:
New Taipei (89) – Lin Je. 23, Yang 13, Manigault 12, Lin Jo. 11, Lee 11, Blankley 7, Anigwe 6, Su 4, Davis 2, Chien 0, Wang 0, Hung 0.
Meralco (77) – Lofton 20, Maliksi 12, Banchero 10, Hodge 8, Quinto 8, Ibeh 7, Almazan 5, Rios 4, Dario 3, Pascual 0, Bates 0.
Quarterscores: 21-21, 42-47, 66-58, 89-77.
