CBA Finals: Liaoning Flying Leopards stun Guangdong Southern Tigers to go to a decider

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Finals will go to a deciding game on Saturday night after the Liaoning Flying Leopards stunned the Guangdong Southern Tigers 115-113 to stage an unlikely comeback in game two on Thursday night.

Trailing by 22 points in the third quarter, the Leopards rallied late on to keep their CBA hopes alive and clinched the win as Guo Ailun sparkled down the home straight.

The national team point guard scored eight points in a row and a steal to help the Leopards draw level in the dying stages of the game.

As the seconds ticked down, the Tigers’ Sonny Weems had a chance to snatch victory for the Tigers, but his buzzer-beater fell short to hand the Leopards a reprieve after a thrilling match.

The Tigers must have felt like they were about to be crowned champions for a record-extending 10th time as Weems, who scored a game high 37 points, found his range and extended the Guangdong outfit’s lead in the first half. Yi Jianlian weighed in with 16 points of his own to go with 10 rebounds. And Zhao Rui also registered 16 points. But it wasn’t enough to seal the series as Guo was joined by O.J. Mayo in grabbing 28 points with Han Dejun notching 17 to sink the defending champions.

“When we led with over 20 points in the third quarter, the defence became weak and the organisation of the offence was too simple,” said Du Feng, the head coach of Guangdong.

Watch highlights of game two

Liaoning will now be aiming to claim a second CBA title in three years on Saturday.

“We believed in victory, believed in victory, believed in victory, and finally we made it,” said Alejandro Martinez, the Liaoning head coach.

Game three gets underway at the Guoxin Gymnasium in Qingdao at 8pm on Saturday.