Liaoning entertained Guangdong in Liaoning Gymnasium for their first game in the best of seven series of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) semi-finals on Thursday night.

This was the first time in seven seasons that Liaoning moved their home court back to Shenyang. And the team was rejuvenated in their new home as Guo Ailun led the team to their first win 95-90 for a 1-0 lead in the series of semi-finals.

The hosts started strong as Guo got the kiss off the glass to put his team in the lead. While the visitors kept it close as Zhou Peng turned the table back and put his team in front. And Zhao Rui found his way to help the eight-time CBA champions stretch the lead.

Guangdong led by six late in the first half. The visitors extended the lead to fourteen as Sloane connected on more three pointers.

But the hosts trimmed things to five, when Li Xiaoxu finished down low. The hosts kept the momentum to turn the table back, and Guo led the team to put Liaoning in front by six. The 24-year-old scored a team-high 21 points.

"Before the game we expected it to be tough, and it turned out to be very intense," said Guo Shiqiang, Liaoning Flying Leopards Coach. “The two teams are very familiar with each other, there are no secrets between us. The difference is usually who defends better, who makes less mistakes, and who is stronger mentally. I think we performed really well defensively in the fourth quarter, and we rotated our players more than they did, which meant we always had fresher players on the court. That energy helped us win the game."