Guangdong Southern Tigers hosted the Shenzhen Leopards in the 23rd game of the 2018-2019 CBA Season on Sunday. The Leopards came in on a four-game winning streak, hoping to cause some problems for the league leaders, but a big game from Ren Junfei, who scored a game-high 30 points, led the Southern Tigers to outshine in the Guangdong Derby. 

Guangdong took the early lead 11-2 as Ren, who scored on a fast break just over four minutes into the game. But Shenzhen soon found their way back and tied the score at 27 at the end of the first quarter. 

In the last minute of the first half, the big bounce leads to a fast break for Guangdong as Yi Jianlian finished with the cram and gave the score 50-47 to Southern Tigers. 

In the third quarter, Shenzhen failed to get a shot off in time, but Guangdong never really threaten again as Ren got the tip in and Guangdong go on to win 102-87. 

Other matches 

A serious melee broke out at the end of the Fujian win over Shanghai, with Meng Lingyuan facing a possible suspension for his role in it. Jilin overcame Guangzhou thanks to 37 points from Dominique Jones, and Xinjiang thrashed Qingdao with Darius Adams scoring 40 points. Nanjing Tongxi edged the last season's runner-ups Zhejiang Guangsha by a 106:103 win. Sichuan got past Zhejiang Chouzhou Bank team, and Brandon Bass had 33 points to help Liaoning win over Tianjin. 

At the halfway point of the season, Guangdong remained on top with 21 wins and two losses, two wins ahead of defending champions Liaoning. Beijing and Guangsha rank third and fourth, followed by Shenzhen, Xinjiang, and Fujian. Shanghai is eighth.