Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to watch any CBA games this morning… or any NBA games last night, for that matter. For this reason there will be no “starting lineup” today, and this CBA Recap won’t be as detailed as usual. I apologize to my loyal readers for all of this, but I was so sick last night I couldn’t have watched a game if I wanted to… my vision was too damn blurry to see the TV.
Zhejiang 122, Qindago 110: JR Smith made 14 of 18 threes on his way to 60 big ones (a CBA season high) in a must-win game for Zhejiang. The Golden Bulls are now involved in a four-way tie for the 8th and final playoff spot, and they’ve got a couple of easy games coming up. JR’s 60 points indicate to me that he’s still on board and I expect this team to qualify for the playoffs. As for Qindago, they’ve got an even easier upcoming schedule than Zhejiang, but they’ve slipped to 12-15 (11th place) and will probably have to win nearly all of their final five games in order to qualify for the postseason.
Fujian 132, Guangsha 125: Wilson Chandler’s 36 points, 21 rebounds, and 6 assists weren’t enough to earn Guangsha a victory in this high-scoring affair. While Chandler and Ramos (24/15) put up incredible numbers, Fujian got 25 or more from four different players. Anthony Roberson led everybody with 36 and Zaid Abbas came up with 25 points and 24 boards.
Bayi 107, Shandong 87: Wang Zhizhi’s 30 points on only 14 shots led Bayi to their first win in six games. This game had no real impact on the standings as both teams are bottom five. For Shandong, Othello Hunter failed to record a double-double and Alan Anderson took only 9 shots. That’s comparable to Kevin Love not getting a double-double and Kobe taking 9 shots.
Xinjiang 89, Shanghai 84: This was a huge game for both teams. Shanghai was looking to separate themselves from that aforementioned four-way tie for 8th while Xinjiang was looking to get in on the tie. Tim Pickett’s 15 and 12 came on just 5-16 from the floor, but in this low-scoring game where both teams shot pretty poorly I suppose points were points. Marcus Landry led Shanghai in both scoring and rebounding with 20/10.
Guangdong 122, Liaoning 108: The Southern Tigers need just one more victory to lock up the number one seed. Seeing as this was their 10th win in a row I’m thinking they’ll be getting it pretty soon. Aaron Brooks, who led the way with 34, appears to be stuck in China for the long haul, because I don’t see anyone keeping Guangdong from winning their 6th title in a row.
Shanxi 129, Foshan 115: Marcus Williams went for 40 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists… and Charles Gaines had 34 and 17. They’ve both been putting up crazy numbers for Shanxi all season long, but damn! Foshan got some solid statistics from the unidentified white guy (31 PTS) as well as Marcus Haislip (24/10) but they lost their 7th in a row anyway.
Tianjin 105, Jiangsu 99: Tianjin is still undefeated since cutting David Harrison! Donnell Harvey exploded for 30 and 18 in their third win in a row, while Herve Lamizana (Harrison’s replacement) collected 15 boards. Jackson Vroman had 33/13 for Jiangsu… it was his second consecutive 30/10 game.
Dongguan 120, Jilin 98: Josh Akognon’s 32 points on 10-17 from the floor led Dongguan as they snapped a two-game losing streak. They remain in third place for the moment (17-10), but they’ve still got a chance to catch Beijing (18-8). Cartier Martin played just 14 minutes for Jilin… I’m not sure why.