Sichuan Blue Whales center Hamed Haddadi. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Sichuan Blue Whales are recently crowned as champions of the 2016 Chinese Basketball Association season after they defeated rivals Liaoning Flying Leopards in Game 5, 94-91, to win the best-of-seven Finals series 4-1 at the Sichuan Provincial Stadium in Chengdu, Sichuan, China on Sunday.
Sichuan, who finished third behind Liaoning and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the regular season with a 30-8 win-loss record, has become the fifth champion in the CBA's 21-year history, as reported by Xinhuanet.
The Blue Whales lost the opening game of the Finals series, 103-89, held at the Benxi Gymnasium in Liaoning, but was able to beat the Flying Leopards in the next four matches, including Game 2 on the road, to win the franchise's first-ever CBA championship in three years of existence in China's premier basketball league.
Only four other clubs - the Bayi Rockets, Guangdong Southern Tigers, Shanghai Sharks, and Beijing Ducks - has won the title in league history.
The Blue Whales had made a marked improvement from finishing last regular season with an 8-30 slate as they acquired last offseason three imports, namely former NBA standout Hamed Haddadi, Mike Harris, and Justin Dentmon to lead them to the title this season.
The three foreign players combined for 58 points and 33 rebounds to spearhead Sichuan's campaign in the fifth game of the recently concluded title series.
Harris came off the bench once again and led the team with 25 points and 15 rebounds while starting center Haddadi backed him up with 22 points and 16 boards, which is actually the Iranian's lowest rebounding total in the series.
Dentmon, who started at the guard spot but played only 28 minutes, contributed 11 points, two rebounds, and four assists to cap the tough win. Local players Wang Ruheng and Zhang Chunjun added 18 and 12 points respectively for head coach Yang Xuezeng's squad, via BW Live.
The Flying Leopards were once again paced by former Los Angeles Clipper Lester Hudson, who fired a game-high 39 points and hauled down 11 boards in a futile effort. Liaoning's other import, Shavlik Randolph, was a disappointment for the second straight game, this time scoring only 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting, but was able to grab 12 rebounds.
"Three foreign players did help the team a lot during the entire season," Xuezeng said after the match. "But they are all team players. We won the championship because of team efforts."
It was actually the heroics of Wang, a local player who hit four three-point shots and a pivotal one late in the final quarter, which sealed the win for the Blue Whales in the match.
