Regular season winners Liaoning Flying Leopards defeated fourth-seeded Guangdong Southern Tigers, 105-96, in Game 4 of their best-of-five Chinese Basketball Association semifinals series held at the Dongguan Basketball Center in Dongguan, Guangdong on March 4th to advance in Finals against third-seeded Sichuan Blue Whales.
The Flying Leopards finally dispatched the tough challenge of the Southern Tigers, winning the series three games to one as the top team in the 2016 CBA regular season was momentarily held up in Game 3 when Guangdong won by a hair, 97-96, at the former's home court.
Liaoning's team leader and two-time CBA Most Valuable Player Lester Hudson led Liaoning to victory once again, firing 30 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the two-point area and going 5-of-10 from beyond the three-point line.
The 31-year-old former Los Angeles Clipper also contributed six boards and seven assists, as per Asia-basket, while playing more than 42 minutes in the highly crucial match. If the Southern Tigers won that time at their home court, they would have had the momentum going into the fifth and deciding game and could have pulled off a shocking upset against the Flying Leopards.
Starting local players, forward He Tianju and guard Guo Ailun, effectively supported Hudson with 26 and 20 points respectively while giving a collective six rebounds and seven assists as well.
Another former NBA player, power forward Shavlik Randolph, made an impact off the bench as he scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in only a little over 29 minutes of playing time during the match, as per BW Live.
The other starting forward, Li Xiaoxu, scored 10 points to round out five Liaoning players in double-digit scoring figures. He also collared seven boards.
Meanwhile, Guangdong was led by 27 points from reigning local MVP Yi Jianlian, also a former NBA player. Yi also had six rebounds and three assists despite the team's losing effort.
He was backed up by Nigerian-American Ike Diogu with 21 points and 12 boards while another local player, power forward Zhou Peng, had 16 points. The Southern Tigers' other import, American Justin Carter, contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists in more than 34 minutes of play.
Liaoning is set to face the Blue Whales on Friday for Game 1 of the best-of-seven CBA Finals series.