Nguyễn Huy Hoàng played an explosive game to help Hà Nội Buffaloes defeat the HCM City Wings. Photo courtesy of VBA

HÀ NỘI — The match between the Hà Nội Buffaloes and the Hồ Chí Minh City Wings always attracts fan's attention thanks to the thrill and rivalry between the teams. Yesterday's match at Cầu Giấy Gymnasium was no exception.

The Buffaloes are in good form with two wins so far this season, while the Wings have only won one of three games.

Despite being considered the better team, the Buffaloes' players entered the game cautiously as this time they had to face Wings' centre player Amir Williams.

The 2.11m tall foreign player is leading the blocking index in the restricted area, with 4.3 blocks per match. Therefore, the Buffaloes must use mid-range shots as well as three-pointers to score. 

The Wings took advantage of Williams taking control of the space under the basket and used fast break and long ball strategies to score points. 

With this style of play, the Wings finished the first quarter with a score of 24-18, in which Wings' point guard Jeremy Smith scored nine points in a row after only 5 minutes.

In the second quarter, with the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, the Buffaloes players gradually regained their momentum, thanks in no small part to the performance of the young Nguyễn Huy Hoàng who got nine points from precise 3pts shots. 

Before halftime, Tâm Đinh once again demonstrated why he's called 'Mr Clutch Shot', when he took a dagger 3pts shot to close the first half, 40-48 for the Buffaloes.

The Buffaloes players maintained the game and kept up the lead in the third and fourth quarters.

In the last minutes of the match, the Wings' local players exploded to find a chance to turn the game around. Trần Văn Trung and Bùi Anh Khoa both scored to help the Wings narrow the gap to four points in the final minutes fo the game.

However, the Wings had too many turnovers in the decisive minutes, this helped the Buffaloes players increase the gap.

The match ended 81-89 to the Buffaloes. 

Anthony January of the Buffaloes won the MVP of the game with a double-double 27 points and 11 rebounds. Besides, the young player, Nguyễn Huy Hoàng had the best career stat with 21 points, two assists and eight rebounds.

With three consecutive defeats, HCM City Wings will need a better strategy to prepare going forward, while the Hanoi Buffaloes still hold second place on the standing table after this victory. VNS