Suwon KT extended its winning streak to four games after defeating Busan KCC in a battle of professional basketball’s top star siblings on New Year’s Day.
KT defeated KCC 83-80 on New Year’s Day in a home game of the 2023-2024 regular season at the KT Arena in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
With its fourth straight win, KT moved into a tie for third place with Changwon LG (18-9). The gap between them and leader 현금홀덤사이트 Wonju DB (23-5) is four and a half games.
Meanwhile, fifth-ranked KCC (13 points), who are looking to break into the top half of the table, seem to have run out of steam after a seven-game winning streak and lost back-to-back games against KT. The gap between them and sixth-place Ulsan Hyundai Mobis (13-14) has also been cut to a game and a half.
KT defeated KCC 98-83 in their last meeting at the same venue on March 30.
The game, which was billed as a “sibling rivalry” between Heo Woong (KCC) and Heo Hoon (KT), drew a sellout crowd of 3,574. The previous matchup drew 3,563 fans, making it back-to-back sellouts for the two teams.
He’s one of the most popular stars in professional basketball. In this season’s All-Star fan voting, Heo was the top vote-getter (166,616) and Heo was second (141,655).
After building a 14-point lead early in the second quarter through strong pressure defense, KT struggled from there, losing the height advantage.
Outrebounded 26-13 in the first half alone, KCC was threatened by the ejection of star forward Choi Jun-yong for his fourth foul at the end of the second quarter.
However, Laguna scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in the third quarter alone, attacking KT’s weaknesses under the basket with a team centered around foreign forward Paris Bass, and took a 65-61 lead into the fourth quarter.
Overturning KT’s rebounding disadvantage was rookie Moon Jung-hyun, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Moon scored five points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to go along with three offensive rebounds for a 72-67 lead. Bass, who took over the baton, hit a mid-range shot followed by a three-pointer to extend the lead to eight points with just over three minutes left in the game.
Playing with a face shield after being diagnosed with a broken nose, “Little Brother” Heo Hoon was limited to six points but did his part on defense with four steals. “Big brother” Heo finished with seven points and nine assists.
Bass was the “real star” of the sibling showdown, exploding for 44 points and nine rebounds on his own. For KCC, Ragan-ah led the way with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Seoul SK held on for a hard-fought 80-76 victory over last-place Seoul Samsung, which was missing a key player due to injury. With a hard-fought eight-game winning streak, second-place SK (18-8) cut the gap to first-place DB to four games. Meanwhile, Samsung (23-5), which has lost five in a row, saw its chances of escaping the bottom of the standings diminish further.
Samsung, which has been sidelined for some time with a calf injury to star big man Lee Won-seok, also lost key under-the-basket player Kofi Coburn to injury. Despite the bad conditions, the team played well, taking a 65-64 lead with just over four minutes left in the game, but cried for lack of heart.
Without Coburn and Lee Won-seok, Samsung was shorthanded under the basket, allowing opposing star Jamil Warney to score 14 points and grab five rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. Warney finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, and three steals. Oh added 19 points and six rebounds.
Samsung veteran guard Lee Jung-hyun chipped in with 18 points and seven assists, but could not overcome the deficit under the basket.