In the fourth encounter, a replay of last year's final, defending champion Saigon Heat has already secured a ticket to the next round, while runner-up Nha Trang Dolphins is racing to catch up with its rival. Before the match, the coaching staff of the coastal city team continued to include Huynh Thanh Tam in the starting lineup. As for the representative of Ho Chi Minh City, coach David Grice still believes in the old lineup.

In the first half, the Saigon Heat scoreboard jumped right from the first attacks. Consecutive goals from both the inside and outside lines put "Mr. 30" in the lead. In addition to a stable starting lineup, the effective support from two reserve stars Tim Waale and Nguyen Anh Kiet helped "Mr. 30" continuously increase the gap. Entering the match with full enthusiasm, coach David Grice and his team easily established a double-digit gap of 32-20.

In the second half, thanks to the efforts of scorer Joe Mvuezolo and defender Nguyen Hoang Phuc, Nha Trang Dolphins shortened the gap many times. However, the away team still maintained the lead with the alternating brilliance from the main and supporting players. In the final seconds, center Mykal Jenkins supported “Ut Phins” with 2 scoring and blocking situations. The brilliance of this star helped the home team reduce the deficit to 42-50.

Mykal Jenkins scores from close range for Nha Trang Dolphins. (Photo: VBA)

In the third quarter, Dominique Tham tried his best to break the gap between the two teams. In the 7th minute, the Vietnamese-origin star's persistent efforts on many fronts reduced the gap to only 3 points, 61-64. In response, star playmaker Elijah Weaver transformed into the spearhead of the attack, helping Saigon Heat maintain pressure. This player's class helped "Mr. 30" protect the lead of 72-67.

In the deciding quarter, although the outer circle still brought in points, the "cold" performance of the inner star Jevonnie Scott made Saigon Heat gradually catch up. In the 6th minute, after a steal and counterattack by Joe Mvuezolo, "Ut Phins" suddenly rose to 82-81. From here, the two teams fell into a stalemate with a gap of less than 3 points.

With more than 20 seconds left on the clock and the score at 90-88 in favor of Nha Trang Dolphins, Saigon Heat plotted an equalizer with 3 fouls to gain time, including 2 intentional fouls on Nguyen Hoang Phuc and then 1 on center Mykal Jenkins. At the free throw line, Nguyen Hoang Phuc showed the spirit of the best rookie of last season when completing a 3/4 performance. Along with Mykal Jenkins' 1/2 shooting rate, "Ut Phins" had 4 more points.

Nguyen Hoang Phuc scores a free throw for Nha Trang Dolphins. (Photo: VBA)

On the other hand, Vo Kim Ban, Elijah Weaver and Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh had three-point attempts. However, only Vo Kim Ban was successful. With only 3 more points, Saigon Heat lost the match with a score of 91-94.

Joe Mvuezolo, the top scorer of Nha Trang Dolphins, was the owner of the Player of the Game title with 28 points and 13 rebounds. “In the second half of the match, we increased the defensive pressure, shared the responsibility of attacking, and at the same time looked for opportunities to steal the ball. In my opinion, this was probably the key for the team to come back and win. This result gives me a great feeling. Above all, the whole team once again demonstrated the strength of unity,” Joe Mvuezolo shared.

Joe Mvuezolo scores a free throw for Nha Trang Dolphins. (Photo: VBA)

In this match, Saigon Heat controlled the game for most of the time thanks to the superior number of successful threes (15 vs. 4) and assists (20 vs. 9). Although leading by 17 points at times, the defending champion gradually lost control of the game due to lack of pressure in the middle, and at the same time, the opponent took the ball in many important situations. On the other side of the front line, parallel to Joe Mvuezolo, Dominique Tham also appeared in many hot spots with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks.

After this result, the positions of the two teams on the rankings did not change. Accordingly, Saigon Heat (14 wins and 5 losses) ranked 1st, while Nha Trang Dolphins (9 wins and 8 losses) ranked 5th. Thanks to this important victory, the defending runner-up will enter the semi-finals if they have another victory, or Danang Dragons lose in tomorrow's match.