Guangdong, Liaoning lead in 2020-2021 CBA title hunting

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BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Liaoning Flying Leopards finished first and second respectively after the second phase of the 2020-2021 version of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league.

The two finalists last season met last week when Guangdong edged Liaoning 118-115 to stand in the league's leading place. A familiar place for the team that has already won 10 CBA titles.

Winning 33 out of 37 games, Guangdong wrapped up the second phase of the 2020-2021 CBA season campaign with a 12-game winning streak. Liaoning was placed second with a win-loss record of 32-5. Zhejiang Golden Bulls was on the third with 27-8.

As the reigning champion, Guangdong didn't have a good start for the ongoing season. Star scorer Yi Jianlian was out for the whole season due to injury, and the young players didn't grow up fast enough to replace Yi's role.

In the second leg of the season, Guangdong had lost to Zhejiang Lions, Shanghai Sharks and Jilin Northeastern Tigers. None of the three was in the top four.

However, the situation didn't surprise Guangdong head coach Du Feng. "We had predicted the situation before the start of the season," Du said.

"I'm satisfied with where we are at the moment."

Liaoning led most of the phase, but the straight losses to Guangdong and Sichuan Blue Whales dragged them from the top place to the second place.

"The second place is beyond our expectation," said Liaoning head coach Yang Ming. "The players tried their best."

The second phase of the season started from last December, and it's going to be the longest regular-season ever for the top professional basketball league in China.

Zhejiang Golden Bulls is a young team. The team faced plenty of challenges and they lost to Qingdao Eagles, Shanxi Loongs and Beijing Ducks.

Xinjiang also experienced a tough phase. Star center Zhou Qi was injured and out for five games. Xinjiang was struggling in the middle of the phase, but the fourth-place turned out to be satisfactory.

The second phase welcomed some milestone moments. Shandong Heroes guard Lester Hudson collected a total of 11,842 points in 419 games, which surpassed the previous mark of 11,839 points set up Yi Jianlian, to become CBA's all-time scorer. Guangdong team captain Zhou Peng moved past Du Feng to make it into Top-20 on the list.

Jiangsu Monkey Kings veteran shooter Xiralijan Muhtar became the first CBA player who can make at least ten 3-pointers and 13 assists in a single game.

Liaoning point guard Guo Ailun became the youngest CBA player to reach 7000 points on personal scoring.

Young players also shined on their own stage. Liaoning forward Zhang Zhenlin is experiencing his freshman CBA season. He made his career-high 29 points in the final game of the phase and was named CBA's Rising Star of the Month award for January.

Xinjiang sophomore shooter Qi Lin can average 15.1 points, with 44.4 percent on three-point shooting.

The third phase of the season will start in later March. Before that, The 2020-21 CBA All-Star Weekend will be staged in Qingdao, Shandong province. Enditem

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