CHN - Guangdong, Xinjiang and Guangsha sweep into semi-finals

GUANGDONG (Chinese Basketball Association) - Three of the four CBA opening round playoff series finished on Sunday with the top three regular season teams getting clean sweeps.

Only the series between fourth seed Shanghai Dongfang Sharks and fifth seed Liaoning Nangang Hunters is still ongoing, with the Sharks leading 2-1. They have a chance to move to the last four with a win at home on Wednesday. A potential fifth and final game would also be played on the Sharks court.

Top seed Guangdong Southern Tigers convincingly beat Bayi Fubang (The Army) in three straight games. They cruised to a 109-71 victory in the series opener at home.

The Army threatened for the first quarter of the second game, taking a 26-18 lead before the Tigers rallied back and took a 94-84 win.

Chinese national team players Du Feng, Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu then combined for 37 points and 18 rebounds to lead Guangdong to a 103-83 route in the third game to book their place in the next round. Wang Zhizhi, also a member of the national team, had 18 points in the defeat for Army.

Guangdong will meet the winners of the Shanghai vs Liaoning series. The Sharks edged out the Hunters 99-97 in the opener before Liaoning made the most of the home court advantage to even the series with a 110-96 win. But in the third game, visitors Shanghai used a 14-0 run to take the lead and hold on to it for a crucial away win.

In a battle of two players who play alongside one another in China's national team's backcourt, point guard Liu Wei locked down shooter Zhang Qingpeng.

Zhang, who won the three-point shooting contest during the all-star weekend earlier in the season, was held to 10 points on two of 13 shooting, missing all eight of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Liu Wei had 13 point, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and a steal and was congratulated by Shanghai boss Yao Ming on the phone afterwards.

In the other match-ups, Xinjiang Flying Tigers dispensed with Fujian SBS Xunxin with ease and Zhejiang Guangsha Lions won two close games away to Jiangsu Nangang Dragons.

Xinjiang will host Guangsha on Sunday for the first game of their semi-final series. The two teams, which were both coached by former national team head coaches, split their regular season games.

The semi-finals will be played in a 2-2-1 format with the higher ranked team playing at home first.

Opening round results (1-2-2 format; higher ranked team plays at home first)
(1) Guangdong beat (8) Army 3-0
Game 1: Guangdong 109-71 Army
Game 2: Army 84-94 Guangdong
Game 3: Army 83-103 Guangdong

(4) Shanghai lead (5) Liaoning 2-1
Game 1: Shanghai 99-97 Liaoning
Game 2: Liaoning 110-96 Shanghai
Game 3: Liaoning 73-89 Shanghai
Game 4: Wednesday 31st March

(2) Xinjiang beat (7) Fujian 3-0
Game 1: Xinjiang 109-91 Fujian
Game 2: Fujian 72-98 Xinjiang
Game 3: Fujian 78-110 Xinjiang

(3) Guangsha beat (6) Jiangsu 3-0
Game 1: Guangsha 109-95 Jiangsu
Game 2: Jiangsu 97-103 Guangsha
Game 3: Jiangsu 100-104 Guangsha