Reigning champions Liaoning on verge of playoff exit
The Guangdong Southern Tigers defeated the Liaoning Flying Leopards 98-82 at home, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinals of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs on Monday.
Leading by eight going into the second quarter, Guangdong extended their advantage to 10 points before Liaoning cut the deficit to three at halftime.
Zhou Qi and Hu Mingxuan spearheaded Guangdong's attack in the third quarter, riding on a 14-3 surge to lead 64-49. Liaoning struggled in offense early in the fourth quarter, while Guangdong had an 8-1 run to widen the gap to 17 points. Du Runwang hit two 3-pointers to help the hosts keep the upper hand en route to a comfortable victory.
Defending champions Liaoning now need to win two games in a row to avoid elimination.
"We still have some shortcomings in tonight's victory. I hope our young players keep learning from our opponents, they are the defending champions and the leaders of the regular season," said Du Feng, head coach of Guangdong.
Hu had a team-high 16 points for Guangdong. Zhou added 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Liaoning's Sharife Cooper scored 17 points, and Kyle Fogg had 16 points. Liaoning struggled from beyond the arc, hitting 7 of 29 three-point attempts.
The two teams will face off in Game 4 on Guangdong's home court on Wednesday.