Third seed Sichuan Blue Whales finally concluded their impressive upset over the Xinjiang Flying Tigers as they swept the second-seeded squad, 3-0, in their best-of-five Chinese Basketball Association semifinal showdown on Wednesday, March 2nd at the Hongshan Arena in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China.
The Blue Whales trounced the hard-luck Flying Tigers, 115-104, in the third game of their series to complete the sweep and enter the CBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. They had won the first two games with close scores of 114-111 and 96-93 and it was only in the third game that Sichuan was able to show their full command against Xinjiang.
Head coach Yang Xuezeng's three foreign players led his team against the hosts by combining for 88 points during the match, as per China.org.
Iranian center Hamed Haddadi had a monster game with 29 points and 18 rebounds while former Toronto Raptor Justin Dentmon contributed a game-high 36 points plus four rebounds and two assists for the Blue Whales, via Asia-basket.
Sichuan's third import, former Utah Jazz small forward Mike Harris, had 23 points and 13 rebounds to complement Haddadi and Dentmon. Local player Meng Da fired 11 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out four assists to support the imports.
Meanwhile, Xinjiang was led by the awakened Andray Blatche. The American-Filipino bounced back from a 13-point, eight-rebound game in Game 2 by scoring 33 points and collaring nine rebounds, but it was still not enough to extend the series to a fourth game.
Blatche was supported by 18 points and six assists from their other import, point guard Bryce Cotton, and 16 points each from forward Li Gen and substitute guard Yu Changdong.
The hosts kicked off Game 3 on a high note, going on a 27-20 run in the first quarter of the match. Sichuan was able to outscore Xinjiang in the second quarter, though, to close the gap to a single point at the half, 57-56, in favor of the Flying Tigers.
The second half of the game was all Sichuan as the Blue Whales stamped their class on the hapless Flying Tigers especially on the boards with the 7-foot-2 Haddadi leading the charge.
Sichuan pulled off a 33-24 attack in the third canto to lead by eight points, 89-81, entering the final period.
Blatche and his teammates were unable to get any momentum going in the fourth quarter as they succumbed to the Blue Whales.
Sichuan is now in the CBA Finals and waiting for the winner of the other semifinal series between the Liaoning Flying Leopards and Guangdong Southern Tigers. Liaoning leads Guangdong, 2-1, in their own best-of-five series.