Guangdong eliminate Shanghai to maintain CBA postseason record

The Guangdong Southern Tigers beat the Shanghai Sharks 115-92 in Game 3 of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) first-round playoffs at home in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, on Friday, winning the series 2-1 and advancing to the quarterfinals.

The result enabled Guangdong to maintain their record of never missing a quarterfinal in the CBA postseason.

The hosts saw four of their players score double-digit points, including Xu Jie, Hu Mingxuan and Darius Bazley who all contributed at least 20. Xu also delivered 11 assists.

Having faced a win-or-go-home situation, Shanghai began the first quarter with a 21-13 lead, but it did not last long. Bazley, Hu and Ren drove a 11-0 run for Guangdong to lead 37-26 when the quarter ended.

Xu and Bazley continued to torture the opponents' defense in the second quarter by both charging the rim and firing from downtown, increasing Guangdong's advantage to 19 points at 59-40. Though Kenneth Lofton Jr. and Huang Rongyi worked hard to try to cut Shanghai's deficit, Ren's buzzer-beating two-point jumper put the home team ahead 70-53 in the first half.

The game grew more physical in the third quarter. Ren was ejected for throwing a punch toward Wang Zhelin from behind. Wang then left the contest later with an injury.

Without Wang, Shanghai failed to make any decent comeback effort in the final quarter. Guangdong secured a big win at home and will face the Shanxi Loongs next.

The CBA postseason quarterfinals matchups are as follows:

Liaoning Flying Leopards vs. Xinjiang Flying Tigers

Guangsha Lions vs. Qingdao Eagles

Beijing Ducks vs. Beikong Royal Fighters

Shanxi Loongs vs. Guangdong Southern Tigers