CHN - Guangdong jump out to 2-0 lead in CBA Finals

GUANGDONG (Chinese Basketball Association) - Guangdong Southern Tigers have beaten Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the first two games of the CBA play-offs finals to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven games series.

Whang ShiPeng had 26 points in a 110-97 win in Friday's series opener as the hosts took a 30-23 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 57-47 at the break.

Xinjiang cut the deficit into single digits, 83-74, heading into the final frame, but Guangdong had just too much offensive firepower with imports David Harrison adding 23 points, Smush Parker chipping in with 18 while Zhu Fangyu and Zhou Peng had 17 and 15 respectively.

Game 2 on Sunday was a lot closer with Guangdong having to grind out an 85-80 victory. The win did come with a costly price as China international Du Feng was said to be in a coma after taking a hard hit in the face from Xinjiang's import Charles Gaines.

The visitors were up 24-16 at the end of the opening period but foul trouble plagued them right from the start as they were whistled for five of fouls in the opening two minutes. That allowed the home side to rally back and take a 49-42 lead at intermission.

Guangdong maintained the momentum the rest of the way, leading 70-65 heading into the final quarter and holding off their opponents' attempts to rally back and steal a precious win on the road.

Parker had 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and did a good job of holding his counterpart Myron Allen to just 11 points. Harrison had another solid game down low for Guangdong, totalling 18 points, eight boards and seven blocks.

CBA Finals (best of seven games played in 2-2-1-1-1 format; home team first)
Game 1: Guangdong 110-97 Xinjiang
Game 2: Guangdong 85-80 Xinjiang

FIBA