CBA: Guangdong Southern Tigers maul Liaoning Flying Leopards in opening game of Finals
- Dominant 110-88 winners going for 10th title, while Yi Jianlian can secure a sixth ring in Thursday’s game two against Liaoning
- Yao Ming watches on as CBA champions take control of best-of-three finals with a Sonny Weems-inspired win
The Guangdong Southern Tigers took control of the Chinese Basketball Association Finals with a 22-point win over the Liaoning Flying Leopards in game one on Tuesday night.
Guangdong, the reigning CBA champions and top team in the regular season, ran out 110-88 winners in Qingdao, firmly establishing their status as favourites in the best-of-three series. CBA president Yao Ming was among the crowd watching on.
It was a tight game to start with and only one point separated the teams at the end of the first quarter, with Guangdong leading 25-24. The champions, who are looking for a 10th CBA crown, never looked back.
By half-time the lead was five points, cut down from a 10-point gap at one point, which was extended to seven going in to the final period, even after Liaoning had a 73-72 lead with a little over two minutes left in the third quarter. That was a blowout with the Tigers outscoring the Leopards 30-15.
“It was not an easy win. Both sides played a tough game. We were the luckier team today,” Tigers head coach Du Feng said.