Zeng Fanbo of the Beijing Ducks celebrates a point during the CBA match between the Beijing Ducks and the Jilin Northeast Tigers in Beijing, China, April 10, 2023. /Xinhua
The Beijing Ducks overwhelmed the Jilin Northeast Tigers 123-79, while the Zhejiang Lions smashed the Shanxi Loongs 103-81 for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three first round of the 2022-23 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs on Monday.
Beijing led the first quarter 23-18 before using a 15-0 surge midway through the second period to expand their advantage to 24 points. Beijing took another 21-4 sprint in the third quarter to put the game beyond reach.
Fang Shuo led Beijing with 22 points and six assists, and Zeng Fanbo helped with 18 points. Ty Leaf had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Jiang Yuxing and Li An had 20 points apiece for Jilin. Dominique Jones, winner of the Best Foreign Player award for the regular season, only shot 3 of 10 for 11 points.
A screenshot of CBA's official website shows the top three players in the rankings of points, rebounds and assists. /CBA
Zhejiang built a 15-point lead in the first quarter. Shanxi cut the deficit to 10 points with less than four minutes left in the first half, but Zhejiang expanded their lead to 20 points heading into the fourth quarter and never looked back.
Hu Jinqiu had a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds for Zhejiang. Sun Minghui added 25 points and eight assists.
Kay Felder led Shanxi with 18 points, while Yuan Shuai added 17.