After reversing Liaoning by 21 points to reach the top of the CBA list, Shanghai immediately suffered a hard blow. On March 6, Beijing time, the 31st round of the CBA regular season, Shanghai lost to Jilin 108-118. After losing this game, although the Shanghai team is still at the top of the list, their record is the same as that of Liaoning, Zhejiang and Guangsha behind them, which are 25 wins and 6 losses.
Shanghai's loss to Jilin in this battle was completely due to his failure to seize the opportunity. In terms of strength, Shanghai is significantly ahead of Jilin, which is still working hard for playoff qualification and ranks 10th in the league before the game. Although the last reversal of Liaoning physically costly, but Shanghai's core structure is basically in the year of playing, and they rested for two and a half days after playing Liaoning, more than Liaoning for half a day, but when the lack of Guo Allen, the main player veteran Liaoning, in the last big score behind Zhejiang can create suspense in the last moment, Shanghai this game against Jilin has not been able to make the game suspense again.
Facing Jilin, Shanghai trailed by 21 points in the first quarter, 35 points in the first half, and more than 40 points behind at most. After playing such a bad performance, it became extremely difficult for Shanghai to win again. In the second half, although Shanghai took advantage of the depth of the lineup and relaxed after taking the lead in Jilin big scores, it was helpless to dig too big a hole, and in the end, Shanghai also paid the price for its lack of preparation.
After losing this game, Shanghai still ranks first in the league with a record of 25 wins and 6 losses, but behind Shanghai, liaoning in second place, Zhejiang in third place and Guangsha in fourth place all have a record of 25 wins and 6 losses. Although Shanghai beat Zhejiang twice this season and defeated Liaoning for the first time, they still have a second game with Liaoning, and there are still two games left with Guangsha. With such a big ups and downs in performance, no one can guarantee that Shanghai will win the strong dialogue that follows. After all, the situation in the league's top four now seems to be a treacherous situation, who does not seem to have an absolute advantage over anyone, and one or two key rounds may change the course of the game and the fate of the team. Moreover, Guangdong, which ranks fifth, is currently 22 wins and 9 losses, and Shenzhen, which ranks sixth, is also 22 wins and 9 losses. It can be said that the current top six teams in the league are relatively small in the gap between each other.
On the other hand, when there are still 7 rounds left in the regular season and it has gradually entered the final stage, the competition for the CBA is still so fierce, which fully shows how suspenseful the competition in the CBA has become in this season of regular season contraction.
Since the 1995-96 season, no other season in CBA history has been as intense as this season. In the early years, the Bayi team was dominant, and with Wang Zhizhi landing in the NBA, the Shanghai team led by Yao Ming broke the monopoly of the Bayi team on the championship. But at that time, the CBA was basically only two teams competing in Bayi and Shanghai, and the CBA pattern was still strong and weak. After that, Yao Ming landed in the NBA, and the Guangdong team led by Li Chunjiang unified the rivers and lakes. Later, Marbury's Beijing team overturned the Guangdong Dynasty and let the CBA briefly enter the crowd competition, but the competition in the regular season was not so fierce. In the past three years, Guangdong has once again completed three consecutive championships to shake off the opponent, once again opening up the gap with the opponent.
In so many seasons, the competition for any season can be said to be difficult to match this season, at least from the current point of view. Among them, the most competitive is the 2015-16 season. That season, regular season champion Liaoning won 31 and lost 7, Xinjiang 30 wins and 8 losses in second place, Sichuan in third place also had 30 wins and 8 losses, and Guangdong in fourth place lost 28 wins and 10 losses. The gap between the top four teams is also small. At the same time, the fifth Shandong won 28 and lost 10, and the sixth Guangsha won 27 wins and 11 losses. It looks very similar to this season. But the title race in 2015-16 is that Liaoning's overall advantage is still very obvious, at least until the start of the playoffs. It was only in the final finals that the Liaoning team once again carried psychological baggage, coupled with unexpected off-field conflicts, Liaoning lost the championship.
This season has not been the same. The regular season is coming to an end, but no team seems to have an absolute advantage to win the championship, in other words, the championship competition this season looks confusing.
Shanghai team is not easy to reverse Liaoning team to the top of the list, but then it is upset to lose, stability still needs to be strengthened; Liaoning team currently suffered 3 consecutive defeats, once Guo Allen returns, they are still a strong presence, but Guo Allen's injury and the age of the main players are hidden worries; Zhejiang and Guangsha have impact, but Zhejiang Foreign Aid's accidental injury and lack of experience in the finals will cause them trouble, Guangsha's problem is that their second team does not look prominent, when the playoff series is lengthened, It's not easy for them to make a quick decision.
As for the defending champions Guangdong, it doesn't seem easy for them to get into the top four of the regular season, and they don't rule out having to play in the playoffs at the end. In the playoffs, they are still opponents that no team dares to despise, but their dominance seems to have been significantly less than when they won the championship in the past three seasons. Shenzhen is still in the role of impacting other teams, and the temperament and confidence of the game are not sufficient.
It also makes this season's CBA scramble extremely suspenseful, but this is exactly what fans most want to see. From the start of the 2015-16 season, the CBA Finals always seemed to lack suspense. In the 2015-16 season, Sichuan defeated Liaoning 4-1 on aggregate. The 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons all saw a 4-0 one-sided situation. In the past two seasons, that is, the 2019-20 season and the 2020-21 season, although the finals have played the last life-and-death battle, the three-game best-of-two system of the finals has made fans not enjoy watching, and even the infinite shortening of the playoff format of the conference system has made fans feel regretful.
This season, the CBA playoff format is reported to be significantly longer than the past two seasons, with 12 in 8 being a best-of-three game format, 8-in-4 a best-of-five, and a seven-game best-of-four format for semifinals and finals. If such a format is finally implemented, I believe that on the basis of such fierce competition in the regular season, the championship attribution this season will be more suspenseful.