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Liu Wei (C), head coach of the Shanghai Sharks, gives instructions to his players in the game against the Guangzhou Loong Lions in Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province, June 26, 2020. /VCG
The Shanghai Sharks finally put an end to their awkward straight loss record since season restart as they defeated the Guangzhou Loong Lions 85-75 in a suffocating defensive contest on Friday. Chinese legendary point guard Liu Wei began his coaching career with a victory.
Guangzhou became a dud bomb in the offense as the whole team shot at 37.84 percent, and none of their starts reached double-digit points. The team's American guard Marcus Hunter who was just named CBA Weekly MVP, went 2-13 to get only seven points, but he grabbed 16 rebounds.
Marcus Hunter #3 of the Guangzhou Loong Lions handles the ball in the game against the Shanghai Sharks in Qingda, June 26, 2020. /VCG
Having failed to reach 20 points in any of the first three quarters, Guangzhou managed to launch counter-strike in Q4, relying on their 15 steals and three bench assassins, Liu Fengbo, Tian Yuheng, and Sun Mingyang who scored 18, 11 and 10 points respectively.
On Shanghai's side, though their 41.79-percent FG rate was not pretty either, five of their players, three from starting squad and two from the bench, scored over 20 points. Dong Hanlin put down 13 points, 11 rebounds off the bench.
Dong Hanlin #10 of the Shanghai Sharks shoots the ball in the game against the Guangzhou Loong Lions in Qingdao, June 26, 2020. /VCG
Though Manos Manouselis attended the game with Shanghai, Liu Wei was the one giving players instructions during timeouts and game breaks. Winning the first game cheered Shanghai's players up and marked a good start for Liu Wei's new career.
Sun Yue #9 of the Beijing Royal Fighters defends Ge Zhaobao of the Shanxi Loongs in the game in Dongguan of south China's Guangdong Province, June 26, 2020. /VCG
Bench unit holds Shanxi Loons back in their loss to Beijing Royal Fighters
The Beijing Roya Fighters claimed a solid win over the Shanxi Loongs 106-98. The Royal Fighters' American guard Kyle Fogg shot down team-high 24 points and five assists. Sun Yue buried four shots from downtown to get 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four blocks. One interesting about the team was that though six of their players scored double-digit points, none of them reached 10 in attempts.
Shanxi's starting five did a wonderful job as all of them dropped 10+points and together, they scored 86 points. However, that was also the best proof for how disappointing their bench squad was. Having gone 4-25 together, Shanxi's six substitute players had 12 points, ruining all the efforts of their starting teammates.
Bayi Rockets after the game against Zhejiang Golden Bulls in Qingdao, June 26, 2020. /VCG
Bayi Rockets suffer 14th straight loss
Bayi Rockets were ruled out for the playoffs after losing to Qingdao Eagles on Wednesday but misfortune had no intention to let the team go. On Friday in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Bayi again lost to Zhejiang Golden Bulls 96-79, suffering their 14th loss in a row and continued to remain at the bottom with a 2-32 record.
Like most of their losses this season, Bayi trailed by 13 points in the first quarter (29-16). Though they once managed to narrow it down to three in Q2, Zhejiang's Wu Qian destroyed Bayi's hope with six 3-pointers in the third quarter alone. He dropped 20 points, five rebounds and nine assists in total while his teammates, Lu Wenbo, Zhu Xuhang, got 22 and 21 points respectively.
This was already the ninth straight season for Bayi to miss the playoffs. The team has too much that needs to change and they better start soon.
Ren Junfei #20 of Guangdong Southern Tigers makes a layup in the game against Tianjin Pioneers in Dongguan, June 26, 2020. /VCG
Do Guangdong Southern Tigers remind you of Golden State Warriors?
Guangdong Southern Tigers continued to win even as Yi Jianlian, their best player, sat on the bench. They smashed Tianjin Pioneers 132-79. Ren Junfei was the brightest star on the court for Guangdong as he put down 35 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and career-high nine steals.
One thing that deserved more attention about this game was the genuine attitude of Guangdong's head coach Du Feng. His team led by 54 points (123-69) when there were less than three minutes left. Then Tianjin stole the ball to get two points via a fast break dunk. Du Feng immediately called a timeout and warned his players to be more careful with the ball. Judging by his gesture and expression, you could tell Du was more than unhappy.
Guangdong not only won all of their four games since season restart, they did it by 39 points per game and Yi Jianlian sat on in two of them. The last team that showed such dominance in a basketball league were NBA's Golden State Warriors.
Other scheduled games on Friday:
Zhejiang Lions vs. Beijing Ducks
Jilin Northeast Tigers vs. Fujian Sturgeons
