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Three semifinal berths secured after Game 3 of CBA playoffs' first roundBEIJING, Mar 03, 2013 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Regular season top three Guangdong Hongyuan, Shandong Gold and Beijing Ducks have all swept into the semifinals after Game 3 of the first round of Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) playoffs on Sunday. Guangdong Hongyuan defeated Zhejiang Chouzhou at home by 109-86. Five players of Guangdong had double-figure points. Yi Jianlian led all players with 26 points and seven rebounds. Ike Diogu had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Obviously Guangdong players made better preparation for the game as they used a 18-0 run to build a 33-14 lead after the first quarter. Guangdong continued to extend the margin beyond 20 points as Zhou Peng, who pocketed 16 points in this game, made two free throws. Zhejiang Chouzhou once cut the deficit a little with Wang Nan's 3-pointer, while a 51-38 lead seemed a long way to go for them into halftime and they never came back into the game in the second half. Thanks to Pooh Jeter's 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Shandong Gold made into the semifinals for the first time over past eleven years with a 110-95 home victory over Dongguan Marco Polo. Promising star Dingyan Yuhang helped with 22 points. Shandong paved the way for victory in the first quarter with a 14-0 run. The 62.5% shooting percentage helped them earn a 52-36 lead as the first half ran out. Dongguan's Lester Hudson, who scored a game-high 33 points, led his team to rally from a relatively large deficit, only to see their effort erased by Jeter and Zaid Abbass' consecutive three-point plays. Foreign duo Stephon Marbury and Randolph Morris became the heroes again for defending champions Beijing Ducks as they welcomed a 101-87 win over sixth seed Zhejiang Guangsha. Former NBA star Marbury handed a double-double performance of 18 points and 10 assists, and Morris contributed a game-high 38 points and 10 rebounds. However, Beijing's coach Min Lulei seemed kind of dissatisfied with Marbury's performance in this series. "Other guys live up to my expectation in this series, while Marbury's performace still has room for improvement. We have much communication before, and he is determined to get back as soon as possible," he said. In Sunday's another match, Xinjiang Guanghui led the series by 2-1 as they downed Liaoning Hengye 112-89. |