Chris McLaughlin pulled off a monster debut to power Hong Kong Eastern to an 84-75 win over Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
McLaughlin, who was tapped to replace injured Cameron Clark, erupted for 32 points and 23 rebounds with three assists, a steal and a block to lift the visiting squad to its fourth win in five matches in this midseason conference.
McLaughlin’s impact was greatly felt in the third period when he steered Eastern to a 27-9 run that greatly demoralized the Bossing, who went on to suffer their third consecutive setback.
“First half, we didn’t have energy. We missed a lot of shots and we didn’t play as a team. In the second half, we took control of the game,” Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic said, making special mention of the impressive all-around effort done by his 6-foot-10 Canadian center.
“Chris knows everything, and he’s helping a lot, so we’ll keep working for our next games. We also missed Cameron Clark, but he pulled his muscles. It’s nothing serious, but he needs to stay out and take treatments.”
Glen Yang also made an impact, posting 14 points, seven rebounds, and two steals while Kobe Lam chipped in 10 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for the visiting squad.
After staring at a 49-39 in the first half, Eastern leaned on their defensive capabilities by holding Blackwater to nine points on 3-of-20 shooting and its prolific import George King to only four markers after torching them with 31 markers in the first 24 minutes of play.
McLaughlin, meanwhile, imposed his might over smaller defenders by scoring seven of his total points in the same frame, and he, Adam Xu, and Yin Lung Cheung took turns to tie the game at 55 with only 5:03 left.
Steven Guinchard then went on to drain three points from the foul line in their next possession for a 58-55 lead while Lam, Yuet Yeung Pok, and Guinchard again led Hong Kong’s breakaway with only 50 seconds left in the third canto to extend their lead to 10, 66-56.
Eastern continued their onslaught in the payoff period with McLaughlin converting a three-point play in the 4:05 mark to stretch their cushion to 16 points, 80-64, and seal the victory.