On January 4th, Beijing time, the CBA regular season continued. After four quarters of fierce competition, Guangdong Hongyuan defeated Shandong Men's Basketball Team with a score of 98-93, achieving two consecutive victories. This victory for Guangdong over Shandong can be considered an "upset," even more so an "uprising from below," as Guangdong was ranked ninth in the league before the game, while Shandong Men's Basketball Team was ranked sixth. It was particularly challenging for Guangdong to win at home against Shandong, who had been in good form recently, especially with Hu Mingxuan out due to injury and the small foreign player not arriving in time.
Guangdong's victory still relied on their "three horses." Xu Jie scored 22 points with 11 assists and 4 rebounds, Jilunwote scored 26 points with 9 rebounds, and Morland almost achieved a "big four happiness" with 8 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, and 7 turnovers. Adding Du Runwang with 13 points and Huang Rongqi with 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, all five starters of Guangdong could get a perfect score! Here, the editor would like to give special praise to Xu Jie. Xu Jie played for 43 minutes again, shooting 6 out of 9 times under the siege of three Shandong players: Gao Shiyan, Yu Dehao, and Xie Zhijie. He made 6 out of 8 three-pointers and 4 out of 4 free throws, efficiently scoring 22 points, 11 assists, and 4 rebounds for a double-double. Xu Jie has truly entered the "ZONE state," and even when facing the strongest defensive backcourt in the league alone, he can still perform excellently.
Although Jilunwote had poor shooting, making only 5 out of 15 attempts, he managed to make 15 out of 16 free throws under pressure, scoring the highest 26 points for the team, which is also very supportive. Morland doesn't need to be mentioned anymore; he almost got a big four happiness, crazily grabbing 19 rebounds throughout the game, completely dominating the inside. The other two starters, Du Runwang and Huang Rongqi, also performed outstandingly. Du Runwang's three-point shooting has warmed up, making 3 out of 5 attempts, while Huang Rongqi also delivered a 3 out of 2 three-point shooting performance. Both of them repeatedly saved the team with their long-range three-point shots at critical moments!
Those who can get a good score include Ren Junfei and Zhang Haojia. Ren Junfei did not enter the court until the fourth quarter and played the whole quarter to get 8 points and 1 rebound. His performance in the final quarter was crucial; after he came on the court, Shandong's zone defense instantly failed, and Ren Junfei continuously made several open layups. Zhang Haojia also had a good performance on the defensive end; he was the best wing player in Guangdong to limit Gaili. However, there were still some players who were not qualified, with Beizili and Zhang Wenyi being typical examples. Beizili completely lost his offensive and defensive enthusiasm from the first stage; he dared not attack on the offensive end and was distracted on the defensive end. Zhu Fangyu's move to bring him back can only be given an unqualified score. Zhang Wenyi had a poor shooting performance in this game, making only 1 out of 6 three-point attempts. When his three-point shots didn't go in, the shortcomings of Zhang Wenyi's defense would be infinitely magnified. Yet, he still played for 19 minutes in this game, and Du Feng's adjustment seemed somewhat dull.
