Xinjiang close to first CBA title
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Xinjiang Guanghui thumbed Guangdong Hongyuan 118-85 in Game 3 of the final of 2010-2011 Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) on Wednesday night.
The defending champions had never suffered such a huge defeat in the CBA final since 1996, only to find they could not afford another loss after trailing 2-1 in the best of seven series, while their rivals Xinjiang never felt closer to their first CBA title.
Actually, in the visiting team's training session the day before, players of Guangdong noticed some guys had already started to make preparation for a theatrical performance, which they were told later that was a part of Xinjiang's championship ceremony preparations.
It is too early for a team to consider a championship ceremony when there was still a 1-1 tie on the scoreboard and at least three games need to be added on, unless they had already gained full confidence in their victory.
But at least on Wednesday night, Xinjiang's confidence was not over evaluated. They led the game all time and won by 33, never a single chance for the defending champions to pull even.
Xinjiang's Douby scored 28 points. Although it seemed so plain compared to his 53 points in Game 1, the 25-year-old contributed even vital 7 of the team's 16 steals, forcing the defending champions to make a fatal 21 turnovers.
"We build a sound defence after losing Game 2," said Xinjiang's coach Jiang Xingquan, who was more than satisfied to retake the lead before travelling to the home of their rivals.
Guangdong's coach Li Chunjiang called a time out when they were 5-0 down just at the beginning of the first quarter, the defending champions had never been out of their forms so early in the game.
"We did not play our best, even could not reach our training level," Li said.
The defending champions never had a chance to gain parity, while Xinjiang was keeping a rapid pace to widen their advantage.
"It is our psychological condition that led to such a massacre, but we could afford it and get rid of it, for we won six championships and now we are still the champions," said Li.
But Xinjiang's coach believed their victory was an obvious demonstration of their power. "We deserve the 33 points victory which shows our power and potential," Jiang said.
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