The CBA playoffs resume tonight with the top-seeded Guangsha Lions hosting the Shandong Golden Stars. Much of the focus will be on the showdown between the reigning International MVP, Courtney Fortson of Guanghsa and the Domestic MVP Ding Yanyuhang.

Shandong finished fourth in the regular season with 27 wins and 11 losses. Ding and his teammates managed to carry their momentum into the playoffs with the Chinese international averaging 25.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The Golden Stars swept the Jiangsu Dragons 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Three of Shandong's starters including Ding have played in the CBA Finals five years ago, when they fell to Guangdong 4-0. Since then they have signed foreigners Ty Lawson and Donatas Motiejunas to add some aggression to the team.

On the other side, Fortson backed up his MVP status by helping Guangsha edge Shenzhen 3-2 to reach the last four. The Lions had the best record in the regular season with 31 wins and seven defeats. Fortson is expected to lead his side to a first ever CBA Finals in franchise history. The American guard is capable of high scoring and can set up chances for his teammates such as forward Hu Jinqiu who is one of the most improved players this season, averaging 19.7 points, 8.6 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of 67.9.  

The semi-finals will follow a 2-3-2 format. Guangsha will host the first two games before travelling to Shandong for the next three, while the last two games are set at Guangsha if necessary. The winners of the best of seven series will face the winner of the other series between the Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Liaoning Flying Leopards.