ABL 2019-20: Post-Game Analysis – Kuala Lumpur Dragons vs Alab Pilipinas

ABL10: ?KL Dragons 92 – 80 Alab Pilipinas?

We picked up our second victory of the season over San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, defeating the league’s current second placed team 92-80. 

The game started close as Amir Bell was forced to sit out for half of the first quarter due to a minor injury. We led by two heading into the TV timeout midway through the quarter.

The reintroduction of Bell after the timeout proved key as we ended the quarter on a 12-3 run to take the 23-12 lead.

The first half of the second quarter was all us as we kept our offence going, building the lead to as high as 22 thanks to a Will Artino layup.The 2017/2018 champions showed their grit as they went on a 14-2 run inspired by back to back threes from Filipino Australian, Jordan Heading to cut the lead to ten.

Just as it looked like Alab might win the second quarter, late back-to-back threes from Cade Davis and Amir Bell made sure we took a 14 point lead going into the half time break. 

Amir Bell started the third quarter just as he ended the second with a three pointer to start a three point shootout between our teams as we both traded threes for a lengthy period of the quarter with Alab refusing to let us extend our lead.

Despite Alab’s best efforts, threes from Cade Davis and Tem Zhen Jie closed out our quarter strong and pushed our lead back to 22 going into the final quarter.

We pushed back all Alab’s comeback attempts in the fourth, and were able to give our starters plenty of rest as we rode to a final 92-80 victory.

The win improves our record to 8-7 and as we climbed to fourth place in the ABL standings. 

Our top performer of the day was Cade Davis with his first double double of the season, logging in 26 points and 10 assists. Davis spat fire from three, making six of his eight attempts. 

Will Artino also clocked in a top performance with 29 points and 10 rebounds on 57% shooting. Amir Bell contributed 11 points and 9 assists while Simeon Lepichev also had 11 points. 

It was an overall efficient night on the offence for us as we shot 51% from the field and 52% from beyond the arc.

After the game, Head Coach Jamie Pearlman said, “We came out really sharp to begin the game, they (Alab) being an import down obviously had some effect, but I still thought Will and Cade offensively really set the tempo well tonight. Really happy with our defensive intensity as well, we had enough pressure around the floor to get them on the backfoot and make it really hard for them.”

Our next opponent will once again be our neighbors from the south, the Singapore Slingers, whom we face for the third time in four games. The game will take place on the 23rd of February 2020, 4.00 PM at the OCBC Arena, Singapore. 

After their last gap 88-87 overtime victory against us last Sunday, the Slingers dropped to a 77-87 road loss to the current league leaders, Mono Vampire Basketball Club this past Wednesday. 

The Slingers will enter our third encounter with a 7-8 record.

Fans can catch the game on Astro Arena and ASEAN Basketball League’s social media pages.