We all know that this finals is the eastern powerhouse Liaoning team against the western champion Xinjiang team. As the two CBA hegemons, their matchup is naturally the focus of attention of the fans. After all, whoever can take the lead in winning this crucial first battle will have the initiative and add a lot of chips to his championship.
To be honest, before the start of the game, I, like many fans, had doubts about whether the Liaoning team could take Xinjiang lightly. After all, the Xinjiang team has superstars like CBA new MVP Abdul Salamu, plus players such as Qi Lin, who is strong on the inside, and it will not be easy to win on their home court. However, when I witnessed the whole process of this competition, I had to sigh: this Liaoning team is too strong!
If you want to say the key to this game, it is definitely the five scoring points of the Liaoning team. They are the core of the team Zhang Zhenlin, the inside general Fu Hao, the experienced veteran Han Dejun, the 3-point god Zhao Jiwei, and the highest score in the game.
Let's take a look at Zhang Zhenlin's performance. The 24-year-old is about to change from a "youngster" to a "big name". In this crucial first game, he broke out unexpectedly, slashing 19 points and 8 assists, and even scored 14 points in a single quarter, laying the foundation for the Liaoning team to win the score advantage in the first quarter in one fell swoop. His excellent offensive ability and organization and coordination skills made the Xinjiang team's defense completely out of rhythm.
Speaking of Fu Hao, the inside titan also played a key role in this game. As the inner core of the Liaoning team, Fu Hao scored 29 points and 9 rebounds in the whole game, completely suppressing the Xinjiang team's inner twin towers Qi Lin and Shalamu. His tough physical confrontation and superb skills have made the Xinjiang team's interior line always scratch their heads.
And what is refreshing is the 37-year-old veteran Han Dejun. The veteran broke out again at a critical moment, scoring 23 points and 6 rebounds. His superb inside control and amazing confrontation ability not only made the audience crazy, but also completely suppressed the key to Xinjiang's inside line.
As for Zhao Jiwei and Fogg, they are the protagonists with the highest scores in the game. Zhao Jiwei led the Liaoning team's outside offense, scoring 17 points and 5 rebounds in the game, and the three-point shot was even more accurate. And Fogg is even more dominant, scoring a game-high 25 points and 5 rebounds, and his offensive explosiveness and strong interior combat ability have also become a major weapon for the Liaoning team.
The comprehensive outbreak of these five scoring points is the fundamental reason why the Liaoning team finally won a good start. They either attacked the inside line or shot accurately, all showing excellent all-round strength. This kind of performance is enough to make us full of confidence in the Liaoning team to win the championship.
However, the match also caused a lot of controversy over the referee's decision. We all saw that in the first half, the Liaoning team completely grasped the initiative and rode the dust with its own strong strength. But in the second half, the Xinjiang team began to gradually find its rhythm and narrowed the score gap. Just when the Xinjiang team was gaining momentum, some of the referee's decisions made them lose the offensive again.
For example, in the third quarter, when the Xinjiang team was playing vigorously and gradually narrowing the score gap, some of the referee's penalties did make the Xinjiang team lose the rhythm of continuing to catch up. This made the game go into garbage time all of a sudden, and the suspense of the entire fourth quarter was lost.
Such referee enforcement has to make people question the fairness of CBA events. We all know that in such a finals stage, the referee's decision is directly related to the outcome of the victory or defeat. If the referee is not fair enough to enforce the law, it will inevitably affect the fairness of the whole game.
Of course, we can't deny that the Xinjiang team also has its own problems to reflect on in this game. For example, the abnormal performance of CBA's new MVP Abdul Salamu, and Qi Lin's choice of defending Fu Hao, etc. However, we still hope that the referee enforcement of CBA events can be more fair and impartial, and present a truly exciting top-level matchup for fans.
In the face of the strong strength of the Liaoning team, the Xinjiang team really needs to sum up the lessons of this defeat. However, if the referee's decision has been controversial, I am afraid that it will be more difficult for the Xinjiang team to turn the tables in the subsequent games.
Judging from the first battle of Liaoning vs Xinjiang, the Liaoning team did show strong strength. The all-round explosion of the five scoring points is enough for them to take the lead in this finals. Moreover, even if the Xinjiang team fought back in the second half, the referee's controversial decision made it difficult for them to turn the game around.
How will the next finals be played? Can the Liaoning team sweep Xinjiang and go all the way to the championship? Or will the Xinjiang team find an opportunity to turn the tide in the subsequent games? This is undoubtedly the main concern of many fans.
As a veteran sports journalist, I'm also looking forward to the follow-up matchups in the CBA Finals. Although the Liaoning team is currently in an absolute advantage, the Xinjiang team, as a strong team in the CBA, believes that it will definitely find the trigger point with the efforts of the coaching staff and players, and pounce on the championship in the subsequent games.