BEIJING, April 18 (silubaba) -- The Liaoning Flying Leopards and the Guangdong Southern Tigers both registered a home win as they kicked off the best-of-three quarterfinals of the 2022-2023 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs on Tuesday.
With a 2-1 head-to-head record in the 2022-2023 regular season, Liaoning took on the Beijing Ducks for the fifth time in the playoffs.
Despite the absence of center Han Dejun due to a sprained ankle, Liaoning gradually controlled the paint after a slow start, with forward Zhang Zhenlin gliding in for a one-handed dunk by the end of the first quarter, which fired up the home crowd and extended Liaoning's lead to 12 points.
Scoring only 15 points in the first quarter, Beijing bounced back in the second quarter as Fang Shuo and Zeng Fanbo led the team to a 10-0 run to force a time-out from Liaoning.
But Liaoning managed to hold the advantage until the end of the game as they beat Beijing 97-84 for a 1-0 series lead.
Liaoning's Guo Ailun scored a game-high 25 points along with three rebounds and five assists, while Zhang added 23 points. Eric Moreland grabbed 23 rebounds. Fang and Zeng combined for 37 points for Beijing.
Elsewhere in Dongguan, Guangdong took the lead from the very beginning and didn't give the Zhejiang Lions any chance to come from behind as they smashed Zhejiang 109-96.
Marshon Brooks led Guangdong with 22 points, and Yi Jianlian added 15 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Wiltjer of Zhejiang scored a game-high 32 points. ■
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