The Beikong Royal Fighters beat the Shandong Kylins 93-84 in Game Two of their best-of-three first round series in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Playoffs at home in Beijing on Tuesday, winning the series 2-0.The Royal Fighters advance to face their city rivals, the Beijing Ducks, in a best-of-five series in the quarterfinals.Grant Riller made the biggest contribution to Beikong's victory with game highs of 24 points and eight assists.
He, Liao Sanning, and Shen Zijie repeatedly charged into Shandong's paint, combining to earn a total of 13 free throws and converting 12 of them.
Jared Sullinger added a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds for the hosts.
He was also the only player in the game to crack double digits on the glass.The Royal Fighters were not especially accurate from downtown, missing 14 of their 21 three-point attempts.
Zhang Fan was an exception, however, sinking four of his six outside shots, on the way to 16 points.Beikong led 22-19 at the end of the first quarter, and increased its advantage to 19 points, 65-46, with just under two minutes left the third quarter.
Dallas Moore and Gao Shiyan sparked the Kylins in a desperate rally in the fourth quarter.
After Gao set up Xu Mengjun for a triple, Shandong closed the gap to just five points, 89-84, with 50 seconds remaining.The Royal Fighters then killed the suspense with a jumper by Meng Zikai before Shen stole Gao's errant pass.
Moore had no choice but to foul to stop the clock, and Riller sank both free throws to seal the nine-point victory for the home team."Just a big series, man, this is kind of what you dream of, what you sign up for," Riller told CGTN Sports Scene's Damion Jones after the game.
"Two Beijing teams get to battle it out in the playoffs, and only one can advance, man.
So we know they're a good team, so we just gotta come out, do what we did in this series.
Play tough, execute the game plan, and I always like our chances."The loss not only eliminated the Kylins from the playoffs, but also extended their losing streak in the postseason to eight consecutive games.