Sunday was the most memorable day for Kaohsiung basketball in many years, if not ever, as former NBA players Jeremy Lin and Dwight Howard played their first professional games in the city for P.LEAGUE+ (PLG) and T1 LEAGUE, respectively, with Lin taking to the court for the first time in Taiwan.
It is safe to say fan’s patience was rewarded, with Howard recording a super triple-double with 28 points, 22 rebounds, and 14 assists in the Taoyuan Leopards’ 137-116 victory over defending champions Kaohsiung Aquas at Kaohsiung Arena. Lin scored 21 points and dished out 13 dimes plus six boards to help the Kaohsiung 17Live Steelers defeat the Formosa Taishing Dreamers 95-80.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Despite a highly “efficient” game from Howard, an eight- time NBA All-Star who made 11 of his 12 field goal attempts and went five for six from the stripe in nearly 34 minutes on the floor, the spotlight belonged to Lin. A crowd of 5,000 packed into the Kaohsiung Fengshan Stadium, with an average online YouTube viewership of about 110,000 in his debut for a Taiwan-based franchise.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Both numbers set a new record for the three-year-old six- team league.
“I guess this is the best welcome (for me),” Lin said after the game, thanking the crowd for spending their time and money to cheer for the home team.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
The 5,000 strong crowd was the largest Lin has faced in nearly three years, as the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 forced the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) to play games in empty arenas.
Lin, who played 41 minutes and 20 seconds, also tied the PLG assist record in the game with 13. Prior to the game, Steelers ranked fourth in assists per game with 17.7; they made 28 in Sunday’s home victory -- their most in any game this season.
However, Lin said the team has not yet realized its full potential and promised fans a better performance in the future when asked to comment on the Steelers’ teamwork.
“This is just our first game, so I would say it’s (the teamwork) probably four or five out of 10, but that is already great for any first game. We would keep in contact, keep watching the videos, and keep going as hard as we can to represent Kaohsiung.”
The game was filled with quite a few “Lin moments,” including a timeout in the second quarter where Lin took on the role of the coach to set the plays for his teammates, enabling Steelers head coach Tony Cheng (鄭志龍) to stand aside with arms folding in front of his chest.
The game peaked in the fourth quarter with about one minute left when Lin was sent to the free-throw line with the crowd chanting “MVP, MVP,” before finishing two shots and receiving a standing ovation.
Recalling the chant, Lin said the chorus did “surprise me.”
“I’ve never heard such an MVP chant before, not particularly in the NBA.” Lin laughed. “I’m really moved to see you make this game so high and so fun, so I’m really very emotional.”
Drawing a contrast between Sunday’s game with the past two to three years, the 34-year-old veteran said “I will never forget my first game in Kaohsiung.”
At the Feb. 8 press conference officially announcing he had been signed by the Steelers, Lin said he lost his passion for the game over the past few years as there were no crowds in the CBA, indicating he wanted to try and re-find it in Taiwan.
The win was the best possible outcome for Lin’s debut in Taiwan, but the Steelers still have 20 games to go in the regular season, and no one is going to forget that the Leopards just experienced a league-worst 10-game losing streak after winning Howard’s first game in Taoyuan.
No one knows how far Lin can bring the team, which is still sitting at rock bottom in the league with a 3-17 record after Sunday’s game, but as Lin said at the Feb. 8 press conference, he prefers to focus on the process rather than the outcome.
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