Zhejiang Guangsha and Chouzhou became the last two teams eligible for CBA playoffs on Sunday as Guangsha held off Jiangsu Dragons 116-100 to climb up to six while Chouzhou was edged by Shanxi Zhongyu 119-117.
Lin Zhijie of Guangsha goes up for a basket in a CBA game between Guangsha and Jiangsu Dragons on Feb.17, 2013. |
Gary Forbes became the hero for Guangsha by giving a triple-double performance: 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Peter Ramos and Lin Zhijie helped with 21 and 19 points respectively.
Guangsha trailed by three points after the first quarter, while they used a 13-5 run to get back and built a 57-48 lead into halftime.
Jiangsu suffered a low percentage behind the arc in the second half, only to see Guangsha extend the margin little by little.
Guangsha will face defending champions Beijing Ducks in the first round of playoffs. The latter lost to Bayi Fubang 99-82 at home.
Wang Zhizhi contributed a game-high 31 points and seven rebounds for Bayi. Beijing's foreign duo Stephon Marbury and Randolph Morris were sidelined to prepare for playoffs.
Both Quincy Douby and Eddy Curry scored 40-plus points, while that were still of little use for Chouzhou. Shanxi's Duan Jiangpeng made a layup with 4 seconds remaining to seal victory for his team. Chouzhou will face leaders Guangdong Hongyuan, which downed Tracy McGrady-led Qingdao Doublestars 121-104. McGrady pocketed 30 points and nine rebounds in his last CBA game this season.
In other matches, Shanghai Sharks lost to Liaoning Hengye 97-77, Xinjiang Guanghui crushed over Dongguan Marco Polo 118-71, Foshan Long Lions beat Tianjin Ronggang 114-101 and Shandong Gold upset Fujian SBS 124-107.
The first round of playoffs will begin on Feb. 27. Second seed Shandong will face Dongguan. Xinjiang and Liaoning will compete for another semifinal spot.