Regular-season leaders Jiangsu Nangang lost their opening game
86-107 to Guangdong Hongyuan as the Chinese Basketball Association
league reeled off its second-round best-of-three conference placing
series.
In Dongguan, Hongyuan unexpectedly exploited their home
advantage for a lop-sided match against regular-season leaders as
they opened the game 5-0 for a 25-21 lead in the first period.
Coach and player Hu Weidong hoped to overrun the scoreboard in
the second period with his three-pointers, and his efforts were
fruitless as the home side run to a 52-36 half advantage. Hu only
made one of five 3-pointers during his 17 minutes.
Wang Shipeng led Guangdong with 25 points, while Yi Jianlian,
Zhu Fangyu and Du Feng added 20, 16 and 15 points respectively for
the winners.
In another South?Division tie, Yunnan Honghe lost their
home game to Bayi Shuanglu 101-118.
North?Division leaders Liaoning Panpan scored their away
game, beating Beijing Ducks 114-92 and Jilin Tigers also had a
sweet start, outpointing Xinjiang Guanghui 119-103 at
home.?
(CRI March 17, 2005)