MERALCO faltered in its mission to overcome “Linsanity” as the Bolts bowed to Jeremy Lin and the New Taipei Kings, 77-89, the East Asia Super League at the PhilSports Arena Wednesday night.
Mr. Lin, the biggest draw in the well-attended Group B match, lived up to expectations and delivered a 23-point 10-rebound, four-assist performance in leading the Kings to their third straight victory in basketball-crazy Philippines.
In front of a good-sized audience led by PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas and Mr. Lin’s friend and former NBA teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of TNT, the Taiwanese star knocked down two booming triples to spark an 11-0 salvo that keyed New Taipei’s breakaway in the third.
The Kings went on to outscore the undermanned Meralco Bolts in the penultimate period, 24-11, to set the tone to the convincing follow up to their 97-92 win at home last Nov. 29. “Our coaches put a big emphasis on playing on both ends and my team did a great job,” said Mr. Lin, who was backstopped by Chin-min Yang (13), Kenny Manigault (12), brother Joseph Lin (11) and Kai-Yan Lee (11).
The former NBA star was met by adoring fans excitedly asking for selfies or autographs then reciprocated the love by giving his game-worn shoes to one lucky fan in blue “Lin” shirt after the game.
“I came out here, I think it’s 2013, I played one preseason (NBA) game…People asked me how the experience was. And honestly, it was pretty crazy. The fanbase here is unreal,” he said.
Cliff Hodge led the defensive effort put up against Mr. Lin by the Bolts, who missed ailing stalwarts Chris Newsome and Aaron Black and absorbed their fourth loss in five games.
“It is physical. They played physical like Cliff Hodge is a great example,” Mr. Lin said.
“He’s playing the four-man position, he’s 6-foot-4 but I can see why. He’s very physical, he’s smart, and he does his job really, really well. He makes everything difficult for you. He plays hard, he plays physical and that’s the best type of basketball you would want to play.”
Zach Lofton, bucking an injured wrist, fired 20 for the Meralco Bolts. — Olmin Leyba
The Scores:
New Taipei Kings 89 — Lin 23, Yang 13, Manigault 12, Joseph Lin 11, Lee 11, Blankley 7, Anigwe 6, Su 4, Davis 2, Chien 0, Wang 0, Hung 0.
Meralco Bolts 77 — Lofton 20, Maliksi 12, Banchero 10, Hodge 8, Quinto 8, Ibeh 7, Almazan 5, Rios 4, Dario 3, Pascual 0, Bates 0.
Quarterscores: 21-21; 42-47; 66-58; 89-77.
