Liaoning Flying Leopards Lester Hudson. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese Basketball Association regular season leaders Liaoning Flying Leopards completed a three-game sweep of eighth-seeded Zhejiang Golden Bulls, crushing them in Game 3 of their best-of-five quarterfinals series, 127-111, at their home court of Benxi Gymnasium on Friday.
With the win, the Flying Leopards advanced in the CBA playoffs semifinals against a tough Guangdong Southern Tigers squad, who also swept their quarterfinal rivals Shandong Golden Stars and were seeded fourth in the postseason.
The hosts dominated the Golden Bulls in the paint, scoring 76 inside points compared to Zhejiang's 50, as per Asia-basket.
Six Liaoning players have scored in double figures, indicating head coach Guo Shiqiang "outstanding work on offense" as noted by Xinhuanet.
Former Boston Celtic power forward Shavlik Randolph led the team with 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two shot blocks in a little more than 26 minutes off the bench for the Flying Leopards. He had an 8-of-11 clip from the two-point area and sank 2-of-2 three-pointers on top of shooting 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
Two-time CBA MVP Lester Hudson, the team's other import who started the game at point guard, had 25 points, five boards, seven assists, and two steals in 4-of-6 two-point shooting and 5-of-5 from the stripe after playing almost 43 minutes in the game. He only shot 4-of-13 from the beyond the arc, though.
All-Star guard Guo Ailun contributed 15 points and a game-high 11 assists to pace the Flying Leopards as the starting shooting guard. He played 32 minutes.
Other Liaoning players who scored in double-digits are starters Li Xiaoxu (19 points), He Tianju (14 points), and Hang Dejun (10 points).
Meanwhile, Zhejiang was led by Iranian forward Samad Nikkhah Bahrami with 22 points, three rebounds, and five assists in 34 minutes. American power forward Charles Gaines contributed 21 points and a monstrous 17 rebounds for the Golden Bulls' side.
Other players from Zhejiang who scored in double figures are Lai Junhao (19 points), Zhao Hang (16 points), and Liu Fengbo (13 points).
The Flying Leopards finished the first half leading by 11, 62-51, and reached the end of the third quarter already up by 17 points, 101-84, to allow their starters to rest in preparation for the next series against the Southern Tigers.
