The Singapore Slingers travel to Surabaya to battle the hottest team in the league right now in the BTN CLS Knights Indonesia.
There’s no doubt that the biggest issue for the Slingers will be the red-hot shooting of the Knights who have absolutely dismantled their last three opponents with their sniping. They are shooting at an unbelievable 54% from the three-point range in their winning streak while averaging more than 17 makes from deep. The vast array of shooters available for the Indonesian squad will stretch Singapore’s defense.
However, the Slingers have the tools to be a great defensive team. They have two of the best defensive players in the league in Xavier Alexander and Jerran Young who can guard multiple positions. John Fields can hold down the fort inside, which should make things easier for the other four on the floor to stay home on the shooters.
In their last game, the Slingers suffered an 81-79 loss to Mono Vampire as the Thai team outscored Singapore 21-14 in the final period. It was a tight game until the end and a missed free throw from Young drastically hurt their chances to win that contest.
Fields had a monster performance on offense with 27 points while Alexander and Young added 19 and 16, respectively. Singapore also welcomed Ng Hanbin back into the lineup after missing a few games due to a knee injury. Hanbin is still far from his usual form though as he failed to score in 11 minutes against Mono Vampire but the Slingers are hoping that he recovers quickly to add another shooter into their setup.
