8 Players Rotate to Defend Against James! Unconditional Trust in Du Runwang and Zhang Haojia, Du Feng Finally Takes Revenge on Zhang Qingpeng
Hu Mingxuan is confirmed to be out for 3 months due to injury, and Les has left the team. The New Year's battle between Guangdong with three foreign players and their nemesis Tianjin has begun. This time, Guangdong's frontcourt will face a major test. In the last 5 games, Guangdong has averaged an impressive 41 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists from their super interior player, David James. Whether they can win this game depends on how well they can contain David James.
In the first quarter, Jilunwote started hot, scoring 6 points in a row, helping Guangdong to an 8-2 lead within 4 minutes. Morand missed his first 3 free throws, and James also missed his first 3 shots. Tianjin began to catch up under the leadership of Lavert. Jiguo Wang scored 13 points in 7 minutes, and Guangdong led Tianjin 15-9 after 7 minutes.
In the first quarter, Tianjin's defense had problems, being too lax against Jilunwote. The issue arose from James, who was directly matched up against Jilunwote. Jimo duo accounted for all of Guangdong's points in the first 8 minutes. Xu Jie then found his rhythm and hit a three-pointer. In the second half of the quarter, Guangdong went on a 7-0 run in 2 minutes, extending their lead to 26-15. Zhang Qingpeng finally called a timeout, and Du Feng replaced Beizili. Zhang Qingpeng took out David James and brought in Hamlet. At the end of the first quarter, Guangdong led Tianjin 33-21. Tianjin's three-point shooting was off, making only 1 of 8 attempts. The trio of Xu Jie, Morand, and Jilunwote combined for 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists. Beizili's performance was average, scoring only 1 rebound in 2 minutes and 47 seconds.
In the second quarter, Jilunwote continued his scoring spree, adding another 5 points in 4 minutes. Beizili provided two assists but missed both of his shots, allowing Tianjin to score in transition with a 2+1 play, narrowing the gap. At a critical moment, Beizili finally found his form, executing a stylish turnaround layup for a 2+1, helping Guangdong extend their lead to 47-26. At this point, Tianjin's three-point shooting was a dismal 12 out of 1 attempts!
As the game progressed, Beizili's defensive contributions became evident. Er Fei started the second quarter strong, stealing under the basket and scoring 6 points. James, who had been mediocre in the first one and a half quarters, also began to score. Taking advantage of Jilunwote's fatigue, he repeatedly scored in the low post, accumulating 8 points and helping Tianjin reduce the deficit to around 15 points. Du Feng brought Morand back in to strengthen the defense.
In the latter half of the second quarter, Guangdong's offensive firepower declined, and the combination of Beizili and Morand struggled to score, allowing Tianjin to go on a 9-0 run and reduce the gap to 11 points. Du Feng called an urgent timeout and brought Jilunwote and Er Fei back in. By the end of the quarter, Guangdong's scoring momentum barely improved, but Tianjin's three-point shooting improved (making 4 out of 11 attempts in the second quarter). At halftime, Guangdong led Tianjin 58-50. James had 13 points and 9 rebounds in the first half, which could only be described as average, not particularly exciting. Guangdong's problem in the second half of the second quarter was a significant drop in defensive intensity.
In the third quarter, the teams switched sides. Shi Deshuai and Zhang Yunmeng opened fire from the outside, and Tianjin started the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers, reducing the gap to just 2 points (they had trailed by 21 points in the first half). At a critical moment, Jilunwote and Zhang Haojia stepped up, scoring 5 points inside and out, but Zhang Yunmeng responded with another three-pointer, keeping the score close.
As Tianjin found their outside shooting touch, the game entered a tight phase. Jilunwote continued to attack Tianjin's interior, scoring 7 points in 7 minutes to help Guangdong maintain a single-digit lead. However, it wasn't enough with only Jilunwote stepping up. With 3 minutes and 29 seconds left in the third quarter, Tianjin capitalized on Guangdong's offensive struggles, going on a 4-0 run to reduce the gap to just 2 points!
Du Feng called an urgent timeout to adjust, and Xu Jie and Beizili followed with two crucial three-pointers, widening the gap once again. In the final stages of the quarter, Jilunwote and Er Fei scored another 4 points under the basket. Guangdong, after Tianjin had reduced the gap to just 2 points, went on another 13-5 run. However, two turnovers at the end of the quarter allowed Tianjin to score 4 points, and at the end of the third quarter, Guangdong led Tianjin 86-80.
In the fourth quarter, with only one foreign player on the court, Jilunwote returned, and Lin Tingqian opened with his third personal three-pointer, plunging Guangdong into a 3-minute scoring drought. What was the problem? Firstly, Du Runwang played 20 minutes but missed all 6 of his three-point attempts. Zhang Haojia played 27 minutes and made only one three-pointer from beyond the arc, but was fouled 5 times while guarding Hamlet, nearing disqualification. Defensively, he performed averagely. Tianjin went on a 7-2 run in 3 minutes, reducing the gap to 88-87!
At a critical moment, Guangdong still relied on Xu Jie. Xu Jie, standing at 178 cm, challenged Gao Shiao, who is 225 cm tall, drawing a foul. Xu Jie made both free throws, allowing Guangdong to maintain their lead with difficulty. In the fourth quarter, Tianjin did not start James, and Hamlet's leadership stage was effective. At 7 minutes and 32 seconds, Zhang Qingpeng made an adjustment, bringing James back to take charge of the game. Unexpectedly, this substitution directly caused Tianjin to lose the game.
At this point, Tianjin's main scorers on the court were two: Lin Tingqian, who had an advantage in mismatched singles against Xu Jie, and James, whose shooting was mediocre. At 6 minutes and 13 seconds, Zhang Haojia, who had been stubbornly headstrong, finally hit a key open three-pointer.
At 3 minutes and 54 seconds and 2 minutes and 41 seconds, Du Runwang, who had been cold throughout the game, finally bloomed like an iron tree, hitting 2 out of 4 three-point attempts. However, what truly demoralized the opponent was Xu Jie's next trailing three-pointer.
In the final 2 minutes of the fourth quarter, despite Lin Tingqian not giving up and even scoring a 3+1, Tianjin's interior defense was riddled with holes, allowing Jilunwote and Ren Junfei to take over. Ultimately, Guangdong defeated Tianjin 110-103 at home, avenging their previous loss.
Game Summary:
Tianjin, who trailed by 21 points in the first half, chased points all the way but never managed to level the score. Instead, in the fourth quarter when the gap was reduced to only 1 point, they were taken away by the combined four three-pointers from Zhang Haojia, Du Runwang, and Xu Jie. What was the problem?
It was David James who held them back. During the first three quarters when James was on the court, Tianjin remained behind. James had a negative plus-minus value of -9 in the first three quarters. It was the two small foreign players and Lin Tingqian who truly led Tianjin's scoring chase. When James returned in the fourth quarter, Tianjin's previously good momentum of catching up was lost, resulting in a 6-point deficit. James was the "main culprit" for Tianjin's loss in this game.
On the Guangdong side, Du Feng brought many young players to this game, but Li Wenhao, Li Yingbo, Yang Yi, and Zhang Hao did not get any playing time. Du Feng still used an 8-man short rotation. Guangdong won in two aspects: firstly, the 21-point lead established in the first half played a significant role; secondly, they successfully contained David James, limiting him to only 20 points and 13 rebounds (personal plus-minus value of -15).
The players who defended David James well in this game were Jilunwote and Ren Junfei. Jilunwote restricted James on the offensive end, scoring 41 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Er Fei contributed 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3