Shenyang, May 11 (Xinhua) -- In a sea of green at the home of the Liaoning team, Zhao Jiwei is like a calm helmsman, controlling the changes on the field. In the fifth game of the semifinals of the 2023-2024 Chinese Men's Basketball Professional League (CBA) playoffs on the evening of the 11th, the Most Valuable Player of last season's finals scored 31 points and 13 rebounds and led the team to a 116-95 home victory over Guangdong. The Liaoning men's basketball team continued its record of not missing the finals since the 2019-2020 season.
After the start of the game, the absence of Guangdong center Zhou Qi due to injury made the Liaoning team's interior generals look comfortable on the defensive end, sending 3 blocks in a single quarter, making the home team's paint area a "no-fly zone". The Guangdong team, which suffered losses on the inside, began to look for opportunities on the outside, but the long-range shooting data of 0-of-10 made the visitors trail by 13 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter of the game, Guangdong coach Du Feng sent a small foreign aid Waters to play a role in connecting the team's offense, but it was still difficult to limit the opponent on the defensive end. At halftime, Liaoning led 58:43.
Yibian fought again, and the Guangdong team began to gradually regain the initiative on the inside through multi-player rotation. However, the backcourt led by Fogg and Zhao Jiwei led the Liaoning team to maintain a double-digit lead at the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter, Zhao Jiwei began to dominate the game, and he scored 12 points in a single quarter, extinguishing the opponent's last hope of turning the tables.
In the whole game, the Liaoning team, including Zhao Jiwei, had 5 people score double-doubles, the inside "Twin Towers" Moreland and Fu Hao scored 29 points, and Fogg and Zhang Zhenlin scored 19 and 13 points respectively. Guangdong's Waters came off the bench to score a team-high 24 points.
After the game, Du Feng said that the Guangdong team is a very young team, and he hopes that the young players can accumulate more experience from the experience of the semi-finals and train hard to prepare for next season.
So far, the two teams that have entered this season's CBA finals have all been produced, namely the Liaoning team, which ranked first in the regular season, and the Xinjiang team, which ranked second. The finals will be played in a best-of-7 format, with the first match between the two sides to be played on May 15 in Shenyang, the home of Liaoning.
Liaoning coach Yang Ming said that injuries are part of competitive sports, and the Liaoning team will not use the shortage of personnel as a reason, and will work harder to prepare for the finals with the Xinjiang team.