INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Shanxi Loongs beat the Guangdong Southern Tigers 123-81 in Game 1 of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Playoffs quarterfinal
series at home in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Monday.Shanxi had seven players score double-digit points, four of them coming
Brandon Goodwin shot 9-for-13 from the field to achieve a team-high 25 points
Trey Kell III, who joined the team at the end of the regular season, contributed 18 points and five assists.On Guangdong's side, only three
players were able to score double-digit points and none of them reached 20
Xu Jie was their only starter to do so and it took him 13 field goals to score 14 points
Troy Gillenwater and Xu Xin scored 19 and 11 points respectively off the bench
Guangdong missed 45 of their 74 shots and committed 20 turnovers in total.The game was only close in the first quarter which was initally
Goodwin and Kell III then combined to add six points for the hosts to lead and from that point on the team never trailed
Gillenwater made a floater to cut the visitors' deficit to 31-27 before the quarter ended.Shanxi began to secure victory in the second
First Liu Chuanxing joined Goodwin and Kell III to increase their advantage to 40-32
Then Kell III drew a three-point foul, made all free throws and added another two-point jumper to give his side a 10-point lead at 49-39
More of his teammates found their rhythm and shot to kill from the middle range thereafter
Though Darius Bazley and Xu Jie increased their charging against the rim, Guangdong trailed 69-52 when the first half ended.The hosts began
to hurt the opponents inside the paint from the third quarter thanks to efforts by Hamidou Diallo and Ibrahima Fall Faye
After Goodwin went to the free throw line and made both shots, Shanxi already led by 20 points, 82-62
The three-pointers made by Xu Jie and Du Runwang would be Guangdong's final attempt to rally, but it was only replied to by more jumpers
from Goodwin and Kell III.As Shanxi extended their lead to 91-67 when the third quarter ended, the game was already a forgone conclusion
Game 2 will continue in Taiyuan on Wednesday.In the other game on the night, the Beijing Ducks and Beikong Royal Fighters fought a tough
battle which visiting Beikong won 105-98 to lead 1-0 in the series.Beikong's Grant Riller made 11 of his 17 field goals to score a game-high
Four of his teammates contributed double-digit points as well.Beijing's Chen Ying-Chun achieved a team-high 27 points after knocking down
four three-pointers out of seven attempts
His performance kept the home team's game alive until the final minutes.Beikong finished the first quarter with a 26-22 advantage and
Beijing spent the following two quarters cutting their deficit to one point at 76-75
The visitors focused on attacking the rim to exploit Zhou Qi's absence while the home side counted on Zhai Xiaochuan and Zach Nutall to make
shots from downtown to stay in the game
However, both Zhai and Nutall missed their three-pointers in the final minute as their side lost at home.Game 2 will take place on
