Guangdong's victory over Dongguan sets the tough team to face long-time rival Beijing in the semis. (Photo : www.chinasportsbeat.com)
Guangdong won the best-of-five series 3-1 during the game last Wednesday, edging out Dongguan with a 13-point lead. The 102-89 final score sets Guangdong up against Beijing, an old rival in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league.
Among the remarkable moves in the game was Dongguan's Iko Diogu's game-high score of 28 points and Guangdong's Yi Jianlian and Will Bynum who scored 26 and 21 points, respectively.
Guangdong coach Du Feng admitted that it was a tough match and admired Dongguan's overall defense play. Feng expressed his gladness over the fact that his team have less turnovers than their last game.
Guangdong ruled the first quarter of the game at 29-18, attributed mostly to Dong Hanlin who scored nine points in the first five minutes, helping the visiting team dominate the game with a 20-2 run.
Diogu, however, single-handedly cut the deficit to one digit at the start of the second quarter.
Gu Quan did a two of two 3-points, while Diogu added one more, actively closing the gap to three points, but then comes Will Bynum through Donguan's defences, keeping Guangdong at the top of the game with the score of 53-46.
As both team giving pressing defence, third quarter saw the two opposing teams getting harder to score. Yi Jianlian did a slam dunk and Red Junfei scored a three-pointer, keeping Guangdong with a two-digit lead point after the third quarter.
Guangdong led with 14 points at the fourth quarter when Wang Shipeng and Yi Jianlian made two shots each. With only four minutes to go, Dogguan lost two rebounds and missed its chance to close the gap. Guangdong made four more points, guaranteeing a sure victory.
Dongguan coach Li Qun said: "It's very hard to say goodbye to this season, but we kept fighting to the last second. My boys will be improving and we will come back next season."
