On January 22nd, Beijing time, the 34th round of the CBA regular season is in full swing. Tonight, multiple major battles are taking place simultaneously, with the Shanghai-Guangdong matchup and the Shanxi-Nanjing game receiving the most attention. The result is that Guangdong's nine-game winning streak has been ended, and the dark horse Shanxi suffered an upset loss. Below is a summary of these two games.
Guangdong 81-115 Shanghai
The game started with Guangdong coming out strong, continuously executing defensive counterattacks, and opening with a 9-0 run to force a timeout from Shanghai. The game continued with Shanghai responding with a 10-0 run. The two teams' scores alternated, but Shanghai steadily maintained the lead. With Wilson's three-pointer, Guangdong entered the second quarter trailing by 8 points. In the second quarter, Shanghai started with an 11-5 run to force another timeout from Guangdong. Subsequently, Guangdong fell into a scoring drought, while Shanghai gradually expanded their lead, ending the half with Guangdong trailing by 18 points. After halftime, Shanghai established an advantage of over 20 points, followed by a 25-13 run that forced yet another timeout from Guangdong. Shanghai was already leading by 30 points, effectively eliminating any suspense from the game. At the end of the third quarter, Guangdong trailed by 26 points. In the final quarter, Guangdong essentially gave up, with Xu Jie not even starting. Ultimately, Guangdong lost 81-115 to Shanghai, conceding a 34-point defeat that ended their nine-game winning streak and also resulted in being swept by Shanghai for the season. Jilunwater was benched due to a dispute with Du Feng and only played for 6 minutes throughout the game.
Shanxi - Nanjing
In the first quarter, Nanjing started with a series of inside drives and outside shots to score 5 points. Liu Chuanxing completed a 2+1 play to stop the bleeding for Shanxi. The two teams then engaged in a seesaw battle with scores alternating, but Shanxi did not gain an advantage in this quarter. Goodwin scored 15 points in the quarter alone, and at the end of the first quarter, Shanxi only led by 3 points. In the second quarter, Nanjing started with a 9-5 run to force a timeout from Shanxi and overtake the score. Shanxi's outside shooting went cold, while Nanjing stabilized their advantage, ending the half with Nanjing leading by 2 points. After halftime, Nanjing started with an 8-2 run to force another timeout from Shanxi. However, Shanxi responded with an 8-0 run to close the gap to 3 points. Shanxi briefly took the lead, but at the end of the third quarter, Nanjing still held a 4-point lead. In the decisive fourth quarter, Nanjing played steadily to secure the victory, ultimately defeating Shanxi 122-113 in an upset! Without Diawara, Shanxi's strength indeed declined.
Results of all 5 games today:
Latest standings:
Guangdong remains in fifth place, while Shanxi, despite the upset loss, returns to second place due to accumulated points. The competition for points between the 5th to 9th places is very tight, with only a 2-point difference among teams like Guangdong, Xinjiang, Liaoning, and others! Among them, Beijing still has one less game played; otherwise, the points would be even closer. The competition for the top eight spots in the league is indeed fierce!