Lions get better of Leopards, advance to semi-finals

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In a closely-fought game five of the quarter-finals, the Guangsha Lions edged past the Shenzhen Leopards by a 3-2 margin to storm into the CBA semi-finals.

Hosting the eighth-seeded Leopards, the Lions got more than they expected from the underdogs in the do-or-die contest.

However, it was Tyrese Rice who tried to fire up the visitors as he hit the three, giving his side a double-digit lead midway through the opening quarter.

Rice subsequently finished with 32 points on the night. The squad's other import, Jared Sullinger struggled early on, missing the fadeaway three in the second quarter, but eventually the former Toronto Raptors forward had five turnovers in the game, including the one when he stepped on the sideline.

Action during the game between Guangsha Lions and Shenzhen Leopards./VCG Photo

That allowed the Lions to take over with Courtney Fortson feeding Zhao Yanhao for the driving layup as Guangsha went up by six points.

Ioannis Bourousis found Liu Zheng for an easy bucket inside as the Lions extended the lead to 20.

Sullinger and the Leopards then tried to close the gap before the original stretch-mark four, and hit a three-pointer. He finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds overall.

The Lions, in the end, held on to win it 107-98, closing out the series 3-2. Guangsha now face Shandong in the semi-finals, starting Wednesday.