Without surprise, the two best teams this season will put on a clash of titans in the CBA finals.

The Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Liaoning Flying Leopards, two highest-ranked sides in the regular season, are poised to have their second straight finals head-to-head.

It is also the third time the two sides contend for the CBA championship, with the first taking place in the 2007/08 season. Will Guangdong once again repeat their winning feat, or Liaoning turn the history around?

It's not a smooth journey for the regular season's champion Guangdong this season. Already depleted of star center Yi Jianlian, who ruptured his Achilles tendon in the third match of last season's finale, Guangdong lost imported guard Marshon Brooks through the same injury late in the regular season.

After Brooks was down for the season, Guangdong added Jason Thompson to their roster. But with different functions on the floor, Thompson was unable to fill the void left by Brooks's season-ending injury. Brooks is the team's leading scorer with an average of 27.3 points, but as a paint player, Thompson is mainly responsible for protecting the rim and doing 'blue-collar' work.

It calls for more contributions from domestic players, which is what Guangdong has a clear edge over many teams.

Backcourt trio of Zhao Rui, Hu Mingxuan and Xu Jie provided enough firepower for Guangdong. Zhao scored 29 points, a personal playoff record, in the second game of the semifinal against the Shandong Heroes. He stepped up after Brooks' injury to improve his average score by more than seven points.

Another interesting point of Guangdong's three guards is their sharpness and precision in grabbing offensive rebounds. It has been endorsed as Xu, who stands 1.78 meters tall, earns a nickname of "center Xu" for his rebounding performance.

With Sonny Weems, Zhou Peng and Ren Junfei in place, Guangdong's advantage on the forward position is enormous compared with other sides. Few people questioned Weems' capability of finishing the attack, even in coast-to-coast transitions. Perhaps Zhou has the best man-to-man defense in the league as he has been awarded Defensive Player of the Year.

Maybe the only shortfall for Guangdong lies in the paint field. Without Yi, Guangdong has to rely much on veteran Su Wei and Zeng Fanri as paint players. As Thompson is not fully fit into Guangdong's tactical system, if Su or Zeng is trapped in foul trouble, Guangdong will feel the threat in their paint, especially on the defensive end.

Guangdong had their most demanding game in the quarterfinal against the Beijing Ducks without getting into their average pace for most of the game. But with experience and composure, Guangdong managed to come back from a 13-point deficit going into the last quarter and escape with a narrow victory, which boosted their morale in repeating success.

Liaoning, who sits behind Guangdong in the regular season, also boasts high-caliber players in their backcourt. Apart from Guo Ailun's typical lethal layups, Zhao Jiwei's vision on the court has helped the team.

Taking the semifinal against a surging Zhejiang Golden Bulls as an example, whenever opponents kickstarted a scoring run, Zhao could extinguish it whether through shots or assists on teammates' easy baskets. He finished with 15 points, 13 assists and eight steals in the semifinal game two, winning a duel with regular-season MVP Wu Qian. Don't forget scoring guard O.J. Mayo, who could average 20.2 points for Liaoning.

Boasting excellent athleticism, rookie Zhang Zhenlin has given many Liaoning fans hope of winning the title, not just by his explosive slam dunks time and again, but his tangible contributions on both ends. Captain Han Dejun maintained his consistency to aid the team in the paint hugely.

Newly-joined players could become an X-factor for Liaoning. Kyle Fogg averaged 19.4 points in eight appearances on the guard position, as Liaoning has an intact winning record during the stretch. Fogg possesses a different style from Mayo, attacking the basket on more occasions and drawing more fouls from opponents. This is highlighted by his 22-of-26 free throw performance in shutting Zhejiang out of the finals.

Former Bayi power forward Fu Hao joined Liaoning during a midseason registration window and has greatly reduced Han's workload in the paint.

"The finals, here we come!" Fu wrote on Chinese twitter-like Sina Weibo, expressing great anticipation towards his first final appearance.

The 35-year-old Yang Ming displayed passion and wisdom in his first full season as Liaoning's head coach. His encounter with experienced Guangdong coach Du Feng will be another point to watch.

"They are 10-time champions and have a deeper squad. We can tell from their semifinal performance that all of their players are in good form, so we are challengers in the finals," Yang noted.

The two sides shared the spoils in two encounters this regular season. Standing on the finals court, no one can easily come through. Enditem

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