‘Polarly polar opposites’ S-Derby’s sharply divided joys and sorrows… Samsung’s 19th consecutive away loss, the most ever…

[잠실학생체=스포츠조선 최만식 기자] In a rivalry match where the fate of consecutive wins and consecutive losses was at stake, Seoul SK sacrificed its neighbor, Seoul Samsung. SK had Oh Se-geun (15 points, 8 Rebound) and Jamil Warney (31 points, 17 rebounds) led the way, winning 82 to 75.

The ‘S-Derby’, which celebrated its second anniversary this season, was born in the 2017-2018 season. The name was created based on the fact that the common alphabet of the two teams that use their home stadium in the same Seoul-based neighborhood, Jamsil, is ‘S’. This is because the first letter of the hometown ‘Seoul’ and the English name of the parent company ‘SK-Samsung’ is coincidentally ‘S’. In addition to this, like the ‘Super Match’ and ‘East Coast Derby’ in professional soccer, the purpose of attracting box office success by highlighting rivalry matches in professional basketball was added, leading to a duel in which two traditional, prestigious teams shared a friendship but could not compromise.

This is the second ‘S-Derby’ since SK won by 2 points (82 to 80) in the first match in the first round. If it were a rivalry match, it would be interesting if there was some similar competitive element, but on this day, it was a ‘polar opposite’. It was also a battle between record-breaking winning and losing streaks.

First, the home team SK, which is on a 2-game winning streak this season, was on a 8-game winning streak at home, building on its record of winning all games in the 6th round last season. Since it was their first time meeting their home fans in 10 games (including the EASL trip to Taiwan) since the Suwon KT game on the 22nd of last month, the desire to achieve 9 consecutive wins was bound to be strong. Moreover, in the match against Samsung, it was 6 consecutive wins since December of last year.

Unlike SK, Samsung is also desperate to break its losing streak. If Samsung, which was on a 7-game losing streak this season, loses today, it will leave an even more humiliating mark on its history. The record for the most consecutive away losses in KBL history is 18, which has occurred 4 times so far (including Samsung this season), and the most recent record in the 2021-2022 season was also written by Samsung.