Heat win the second game of the VBA Final series. The defending champion is one step closer to fifth VBA championship. Photo courtesy of VBA

HCM CITY - A 97-86 victory over the Cantho Catfish in the second game of the 2024 VBA Finals helped the Saigon Heat move closer to their fifth championship.

On Thursday night, at Nguyễn Du Gymnasium, Dakota Zinser of the Catfish had his greatest performance in VBA with 40 points, but it was still not enough for his team to beat the Heat.

The Catfish changed their starting lineup to strengthen their defense and prevent the Heat's shooters at the three-point line.

Combined with the brilliance of Zinser, the home team quickly took a 16-6 lead.

But that was the only time of the game that the home team took the lead. The defending champion quickly came back after a timeout, and with the brilliance of the trio Elijah Weaver, Võ Kim Bản and Dư Minh An, the guests took back a lead of 29-25 thanks to six successful three-pointers.

In the second quarter, despite fierce resistance from the Catfish, the Heat still dominated with impressive long-range shooting from Kim Bản and created an 11-point lead.

However, the guests paid the price when Elijah Weaver sat on the bench after his third personal foul. Taking advantage, the home team narrowed the lead to five points at 51-46.

In the third quarter, the Catfish faced difficulties when their main scorer Zinser also left the court due to his fourth personal foul, causing the home team to fall behind again by 11 points.

Although Zinser returned to the court and helped the team improve, the Catfish still fell behind by 15 points to the Heat.

In the fourth quarter, despite being behind by wide margin, the Catfish still stubbornly chased after the lead, narrowing the gap to four points thanks to the brilliance of Đặng Thái Hưng, Zinser, and Tâm Đinh.

However, at crunch time, the home team committed many turnovers, and the Heat ended the game making six out of seven free throws.

The second game of the VBA 2024 Finals ended with the score 97-86 for the Heat.

This result helped the Heat take a 2-0 lead in the final series and the Saigon team is only one victory away from a fifth consecutive championship. VNS