Guangdong close to eighth CBA title
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E-mail Xinhua, March 28, 2013
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Yi Jianlian of Guangdong goes up for a basket. |
Guangdong Hongyuan proved a favorite team for this season's Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) champions.
The Chinese basketball powerhouse routed Shandong Gold 97-83 at home to snatch the championship point in the best-of-seven Finals series for their eighth title in CBA's 18-year history here on Wednesday.
Zhu Fangyu grabbed the spotlight with 23 points, reaching the 9300-point milestone. Wang Shipeng and Zhou Peng contributed apiece 18 points. Former NBA forward Yi Jianlian had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"I had much confidence in myself. When I was left in the open position, I made it with no hesitation. Moreover, teammates had faith in me as they passed me the ball many times," Zhu said.
Zhu believed that Guangdong's hope for the champions almost reached, but refused to claim that they already "booked" it now.
"We will go to Shandong's home court in the next game, and I think the opponents won't make it quite easy for us to lift the title there. Hopefully it'll be a good result."
Since guard Sui Ran sprained his ankle in training, Shandong's coach Gong Xiaobin started Pooh Jeter in place of Sui, and Jackson Vroman was replaced by Wu Ke.
Compared with last two games, both teams sped up in offense. Dingyan Yuhang opened the game with a 3-pointer for Shandong as they ran to a 14-6 lead thanks to Jeter's three-point play and Li Jingyu's jumper behind the arc.
Then the hosts began to gear up the momentum and cut the deficit to four points in the first period.
Wang Shipeng buried a 3-pointer to help Guangdong take their first lead of this game at 26-25. Zhu Fangyu dished out his own show, scoring eight points in a row after he converted two free throws to establish Guangdong a 42-32 advantage, their first double-figure lead.
The third quarter turned out to be a decider in the match. Guangdong used a 15-5 spurt to open the quarter, forcing the opponents into a timeout, which turned out little effect.
Zhu pleased home fans with long shots and Guangdong led 77-55 into the final 12 minutes.
Jeter scored 11 straight points to help Shandong cut the gap. Zhou Peng's 3-pointer for Guangdong in the last minute secured a comfortable home victory for last season's runners-up.
"The victory is attributed to our defense. Generally speaking, one team's offense may experience ups and downs, while defense won't. Our solid defense created many fast break and open shots chances, and players such as Wang Shipeng, Zhou Peng and Zhu Fangyu took it," Du Fu, Guangdong's coach, said.
Shandong's Jeter led all players with 25 points. Zaid Abbass and Dingyan Yuhang contributed 15 points and 14 points respectively.
"The opponents are a more mature team. This is a series, neither team has secret," Gong Xiaobin said.
The Shandong coach regarded the Finals as the best platform for young players to gain experience.
"We played hard, that's enough. We should provide more opportunities for young players to accumulate experience," he added.
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