Captain Moon Sung-gon emerged as a savior shooter for Suwon KT, a team in danger of losing back-to-back games due to the one-two punch of Heo Hoon and Paris Bass’ poor 3-point shooting. LG, on the other hand, collapsed on itself by committing 17 mistakes.
KT evened the series 1-1 with an 83-63 victory over Changwon LG in the second game of the best-of-five 2023-24 Korean Professional Basketball League quarterfinal playoffs at Changwon Gymnasium on Monday. Historically, the team that wins Game 2 after losing Game 1 in the quarterfinals has a 47.6 percent (10 of 21) chance of advancing to the championship game (best-of-seven).
Moon Sung-gon had 19 points and eight rebounds, the most of any KT player. He made eight 3-pointers, putting five inside the rim. KT head coach Song Young-jin paired Bass with Ha Yoon-ki in the first quarter and Heo Hoon with Michael Eric in the second quarter to try to orchestrate the offensive dissonance. Bass missed all three of his three-point attempts, but was a force from the floor, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds, while Ha Yoon-ki had 16 points and six rebounds. Heo Hoon, who was playing with a torn left thigh muscle, was held to single-digit points (eight) after Game 1.
After the game, Moon Sung-gon said, “The atmosphere was down after the first game, but we had a team meeting to share our position-specific grievances,” adding, “It’s awkward being the captain for the first time. I try to approach them like a friend and tell them to do it together. We need to pay more attention to the areas where we have a lot of mistakes,” he emphasized.
LG was led by Asem Marey with 15 points and 12 rebounds, but lacked support from the rest of the team, especially the silence of Yang Hong-seok (4 points, 11 rebounds) and Lee Jae-do (5 points, 5 assists). LG head coach Cho Sang-hyun entrusted Yang Hong-seok and Jeong Hee-jae (2 points) to create offense and Yoo Yoo-sang (8 points, 5 rebounds) and Lee Kwan-hee (6 points) to defend Heo-hoon, but they were caught off guard by Moon Sung-gon.
Marei opened the game with a basket, and Han Hee-won responded with a fastbreak layup after stealing the ball from Lee Jae-do. Ha Yoon-ki and Marei then scored one after the other as they drew fouls on each other. Yoo Yoo-sang, who intercepted Bass’ pass, widened the gap with a bold fastbreak three-pointer. KT fought back with Bass and Ha Yoon-ki, but Justin Gutang hit a fastbreak dunk and an outside shot to end the first quarter with a seven-point deficit.
Heo Hoon, who started the game off the bench, started the second quarter with a layup. LG’s Dante Cunningham hit back-to-back midrange shots from the front and corner. After receiving the ball from Heo Hoon, Moon Sung-gon hit the team’s first three-pointer, and then Eric joined the scoring streak. LG, on the other hand, missed free throws and miscues 사설토토 allowed them to take the lead. KT, led by Kim Jun-wan and Moon Jung-hyun, ended the first half with a 40-38 lead.
Moon Sung-gon scored the first points of the third quarter with an outside shot and Bass grabbed the offensive rebound. After a blocked shot by Yoo Yoo-sang, LG got another corner three from Moon Sung-gon. After organizing their lineup in regulation time, Lee Kwan-hee hit a three-pointer. With Moon Sung-gon and Heo Hoon hitting shots from outside the three-point line, KT forced their opponents into mistakes with their pressure defense and went up by 11 points in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Moon Sung-gon continued to dominate with three-pointers. LG faltered, complaining about the officiating, and missed free throws in succession. In the chaotic atmosphere, Marei received the ball from Lee Kwan-hee and dunked it with one hand. But Ha Yoon-ki calmly sank a shot from the free throw line and Bass made a layup after a brilliant dribble to beat the defense. With a 20-point lead with four minutes left in the game, LG raised the white flag.
The two teams will move to Suwon KT Arena on the 20th for Game 3.