Guangdong, Beijing to fight for spot in CBA finals

Xinhua | Updated: 2020-08-03 10:14

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QINGDAO - The defending champions Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Beijing Ducks eased past their opponents respectively in the quarterfinals of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs here on Sunday, and will confront each other in the semifinals.

With five players scoring in double digits, Guangdong shot down the Qingdao Eagles 110-88.

Guangdong built a 50-33 lead in the first half, as former NBA player Yi Jianlian and Zhao Rui combined for 21 points.

Qingdao rallied back and tried to cut the deficit with three-pointers, but Guangdong continued their glittering performance and maintained an advantage of around 20 points until the end.

Yi finished with a game-high 25 points and five rebounds, Zhao had 20 points, Du Runwang and Sonny Weems each bagged 15 points, and captain Zhou Peng got 11 points as well as 11 rebounds.

(L-R)The regular season's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Yi Jianlian, CBA coach of the year Du Feng and CBA rookie of the year Hu Mingxuan pose with the trophys before a quarter-final match between Guangdong Southern Tigers and Qingdao Eagles in at the 2019-2020 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, on Aug 2, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

"I can feel our players were playing with more concentration during the game, but it seemed some of them were indecisive when handling and passing the ball. We are in the playoffs now, I think the hesitation is a normal psychological and physical reaction from the pressure," said Du Feng, coach of Guangdong.

For Qingdao, Wang Qingming collected 22 points, including six three-pointers from eight attempts, Jiao Hailong notched 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Zhao Tailong added 12 points.

"We had three more injuries after the last match, but all of our guys went all out today. I am satisfied with the achievement of this season, as we overcame a lot of difficulties," said Qingdao coach Wu Qinglong.

Building on a 62-28 lead in the first half, Beijing thrashed the Fujian Sturgeons 107-75.

Ekpe Udho (C) of Beijing Ducks competes during the quarterfinal between Beijing Ducks and Fujian Sturgeons at the 2019-2020 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, Aug 2, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jeremy Lin finished with a game-high 26 points and five assists, Ekpe Udoh contributed 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Fang Shuo got 19 points.

"We invested a lot of effort on preparing for this game, and the players followed our the plan very well as we restricted our opponent's three-pointers successfully," said Xie Libin, acting coach of Beijing.

On Fujian's side, center Wang Zhelin got a team-high 20 points as well as 20 rebounds, Ty Lawson grabbed 19 points, and Chen Linjian added 11 points.

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