Sun Yue #9 of the Beijing Royal Fighters penetrates in the game against the Beijing Ducks at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, January 21, 2020.
China's top basketball league, CBA, wrapped up 30 rounds on Tuesday and entered the All-Star offseason period. Having claimed 28 victories in their first 30 games, the Guangdong Southern Tigers hold a good lead on the ranking table. The Xinjiang Flying Tigers follow as second with a 22-7 record. These two teams should enter the playoffs as top two of the regular season, if nothing major goes wrong.
By contrast, the teams down from there to 11th place make a really confusing picture. No. 3 Liaoning Flying Leopards are 20-10, then from No. 4 Shandong Heroes to No. 8 Beijing Royal Fighters, all five teams share the same record of 19-11, meaning that they all trail No. 3 by one game.
Zhang Qingpeng (C) of the Shandong Heroes penetrates in the game against the Qingdao Eagles at the Shandong Arena in Jinan, capital city of east China's Shandong Province, January 21, 2020.
9th to 11th are not far behind either. No. 9 Qingdao Eagles (18-11) are 1.5 games away from Liaoning. No. 10 Shanxi Loongs (18-12) and No. 11 Zhejiang Golden Bulls (18-12) both trail Liaoning by two games.
This explains why the result of even one game matters so much. A win can raise the Zhejiang Lions from 9th to 5th while dropping the Royal Fighters to 8th, just like one loss can lead to the fall of the Golden Bulls from 7th to 11th.
Wang Zhelin of the Fujian Sturgeons drives towards the rim in the game against the Bayi Rockets at the Youngor Arena in Ningbo of east China's Zhejiang Province, January 21, 2020.
The fun does stop with the top 11. Though No. 12 Fujian Sturgeons (13-17) do not have a good chance of competing with the 11 teams above them, 12 teams qualify for the playoffs, meaning that the Sturgeons should not give up or let down their guard as two teams, the Shenzhen Aviators (13-17) and the Nanjing Monkey Kings (12-18) are following closely. Even the 15th place Jiangsu Dragons (11-19) have not given up yet.
The competition among the four teams for one last playoff spot may not be over until the last game of the regular season.
The fiercer the competition of a sports league is, the better it develops. Yao Ming, as China's basketball boss, should be really pleased to see this.