Three out of four home teams scored their opening victories in the first round best-of-five playoffs of the China Basketball Association (CBA) league which reeled off Wednesday evening.

The Beijing Ducks buried visiting Yunnan Bulls 113-104 as Mengke Bateer beat his left knee injuries to score game-high 48 points and grab 14 rebounds to lead from 23-6 before the visitors clawed back to 29-17 in the first period.

The visitors managed to narrow the margin to three points 82-79 before Zhang Yunsong hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to enter the fourth period where three 3-pointers ensured the victory for the home side.

Walton scored the team-best 36 points for Yunnan.

In Guangdong, the Southern Tigers started with a 6-0 run and finished the first period at 27-all before sailing to their home victory 121-91 over Jilin Northeast Tigers as they enlarged the lead from 56-47 at half time and 81-69 into the last period.

Johnson scored game-high 32 points for Guangdong, while teammates Yi Jianlian and Wang Shipeng added 24 and 23 points respectively.

Although Tigers have six players in double digit, 14 points from Wang Bo and Nie Jinqiang apiece were the highest.

In Ningbo, Bayi Rockets outscored Liaoning Hunters 110-94 after Li Nan led the team with 32 points on 10-of-19 shots, including three 3-pointers, and five of his teammates contributed double digits.

Liu Xiangtao led the visitors with 26 points.

Xinjiang was the only team that lost at home in the opening round as they lost to Jiangsu 119-122 in overtime where they were outscored 9-6.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2006)