Taking the lead by a big score, there was a sudden "power outage" in the last quarter and then the game was lost. This is the "tragedy" that often occurred in the Shanghai Sharks men's basketball team last season.
In a game in the second phase of the CBA regular season that ended this afternoon, this scene almost repeated itself on the Big Sharks. At one point in the third quarter, they led by 20 points, but in the final moments of the fourth quarter, they were equalized by the Guangzhou team, and almost let the cooked duck fly away.
Guangzhou, which plays alone with foreign aid, has obviously inferior internal strength to the big sharks. At the beginning of the first quarter, Kranbeek shot two consecutive three-pointers, plus a two-pointer, to help the team establish a 13-point lead early. Although the Sharks made a second-team appearance in the second half of the first quarter, being beaten 9-0 by their opponents, they made it to the second quarter 33:26.
The big shark relied on Franklin's needle lead and Wang Zhelin's lethality on the inside, and firmly grasped the initiative in the second quarter. The Guangzhou team, which is already at a disadvantage on the inside line, is also a full-fledged dud on the outside three-point shot. The team, which ranks in the league's top three in terms of three-point shooting percentage, shot just a pitiful 14 percent from 14-point range in the first half. By the end of halftime, the Big Sharks had extended their lead over Guangzhou to 15 points.
The third and second quarters were similar, with the Guangzhou team still not having a crosshair on the outside. After widening the gap between the two teams to 20 points, the Sharks used a lineup of big foreign players Feng Laijia Luo Hanchen, Yuan Tangwen, Li Tianrong and Guo Haowen to practice a big and four small tactical play. Such an experimental lineup also continued until the first half of the fourth quarter.
However, the overly relaxed Sharks were rediscovered by the Guangzhou team to narrow the score gap to less than 10 points. After the Sharks were replaced by the full-force lineup again, Wang Zhelin continued his dominance on the inside, not only sending the third block of the game, but also scoring 6 consecutive points under the basket, once again extending the Sharks' lead to double digits.
However, the Guangzhou team, which has already started, is getting smoother, not only is the defense tight, but the three-point shot is also returning to the standard, and the second half of the fourth quarter played a wave of 17:4, and the score was chased to a 99:99 draw with 33 seconds left in the game.
Sharks head coach Li Chunjiang had to call a timeout and rearrange the offensive tactics. After the game resumed, Franklin assisted Rohan Chen to hit a key three-pointer, which finally stabilized the situation, and then Guo Haowen made two free throws and two free throws, without giving the opponent any chance.
When Guangzhou made an offensive mistake with 11 seconds left in the game, they were already gone.
At 105:101, the Sharks finally won thrillingly, ending the entire 2021 game with three consecutive wins since the start of the second stage.
The Sharks' highest scorer was Wang Zhelin, who scored 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks in the game, in addition to shooting two three-pointers. Foreign signing Franklin had 18 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, one steal and two blocks. Another interior player, Vonle, had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. The two youngsters, Li Tianrong and Guo Haowen, also scored in double figures, both with 10 points.
The Shanghai Sharks men's basketball team's 2022 first game was at 11:00 a.m. on January 3, against the CBA new team Ningbo, who ranked second from the bottom and has only won one game this season.