LG’s victory over Suwon KT was marred by the absence of Yang Hong-seok (195 cm, F).
Changwon LG defeated Suwon KT 76-73 on Tuesday at KT Sonic Boom Arena in Suwon, South Korea, in Game 3 of the quarterfinals of the 2023-2024 Korean Basketball Association (KBA) best-of-five playoffs.
With the win, LG improved to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series and is just one win away from advancing to its first championship game 먹튀검증 in 10 years.
The game was a back-and-forth affair from the first quarter onward, as LG kept pace with KT. KT cut the deficit to 64-56 early in the fourth quarter with baskets from Sung-woo Jung and Michael Eric, but LG got scoring support from Asem Marei (202m, C) and Yoo Yoo-sang (188cm, G) from inside and outside to tie the game at 73-73, and a three-point buzzer-beater from Yoon Won-sang (180cm, G) just before the end of the game gave them a thrilling victory.
Despite the victory, LG’s forward core, Yang Hong-seok, was the star of the show in this game.
He had seven points and four rebounds in Games 1 and 2, respectively, and four points and 11 rebounds in Game 3. Along with Jung Hee-jae (195 cm, F) and Justin Gutang (188 cm, F), he was expected to spearhead LG’s offense in the three and four spots. However, by Game 2, Yang’s offensive production had dropped off a bit from the second half of the regular season.
Aside from a fast break layup with 3:39 left in the first quarter, he didn’t have many shooting opportunities, and he picked up three fouls in the first quarter alone, including a foul while defending Ha Yoon-ki (203 cm, C) and Paris Bass (200 cm, F) and an offensive foul on Jung Sung-woo (178 cm, G).
Yang Hong-seok was forced to spend the second quarter on the bench with three fouls. He returned to the court in place of Jung Hee-jae at 45-43 midway through the third quarter. However, he only attempted one three-pointer due to his time on the bench.
However, Yang Hong-seok hit a three-pointer at 53-60 in the fourth quarter to give the team a foothold in the game and helped make it a one-possession game when he assisted Marei’s dunk with a drive-in pass at the 3:16 mark of the fourth quarter.
On the night, he played 21 minutes and 46 seconds, scoring five points, grabbing two rebounds and dishing out two assists. He has scored in single digits in three straight playoff games and is averaging 5.3 points in those three games. This is a bit of a disappointment considering he averaged 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in the regular season.
For Yang Hong-seok, this is his first playoffs since moving to LG and his first spring basketball game before joining the military, and it’s also a battle of egos against his hometown team KT and his teammate Moon Sung-gon (193 cm, F), so it was a big deal before the series. All of these stories and the pressure of the playoffs seemed to weigh on Yang Hong-seok.
It will be interesting to see if he can wake up in Game 4 and lead his team to the championship game.
