Hong Kong Eastern had a dominant PBA Commissioner’s Cup debut, defeating the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 102-87, on Wednesday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Hayden Blankley had an all-around game of 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks to be named Player of the Game as the Eastern tied the Converge FiberXers on top with a 1-0 record.
“It is an unreal experience to be given a second chance to play here,” said Blankley, who previously played with the Bay Area Dragons in the PBA. “In this game, I think, it took us half of the game to adjust to the PBA physicality.”
Cameron Clark led the way for the Eastern with 25 points and 11 rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks, while Glen Yang and Yin Lung Cheong contributed 13 and 11 markers, respectively.
Eastern head coach Mensur Bajramović, for his part, stated that he was flattered that his team is being compared to the previous PBA guest team, the Dragons, but admitted that they are still in adjustment mode.
“Being compared to Bay Area Dragons means a lot for us, but we have to adjust because this is our first experience to play here in the PBA,” Bajramović said in a post-game interview.
“We still have not played a lot of games together; there are still some instances where we missed our timing, but my players played above my expectations in this game,” he added.
Donovan Smith debuted for Phoenix with a double-double of 33 points and 11 rebounds; Jason Perkins added 22 markers; and Ricci Rivero contributed 10 points in the loss.
The post Hayden Blankley shines as Eastern defeats Phoenix first appeared on Fastbreak.
0 comments: