Related News
Home » Sports » Basketball
Dragons deny Sharks to lead 2-0
By Andrew Crawford |
February 25, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DESPITE a valiant effort, the Shanghai Sharks are now fighting for their postseason lives after a 95-99 defeat to the Shanxi Brave Dragons in Taiyuan. The home side had to cling on during a nail-biting fourth quarter to lead 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
The Sharks started strongly and thanks to Marcus Landry and Zhang Zhaoxu, opened up a double digit lead at the end of the opening 12 minutes. However, the introduction of Marcus Gaines in the second quarter helped the Dragons turn the game around.
The home side largely controlled the third quarter and began to increase their lead through Gaines' intensity in the paint as well as the deft shooting of Marcus Williams.
But with Sharks owner Yao Ming watching from the stands, Shanghai came storming back in the fourth quarter and with a couple of minutes left, the combined efforts of Landry, Zhang and Mike Harris helped the visitors come within a basket of tying the game.
Then, with 20 seconds left, Gaines, Shanxi's best player yesterday, implausibly missed a set of free-throws and suddenly the game was up for grabs. The Dragons were leading 96-95 but Shanghai had the ball with 15 seconds left. With the game on the line, the Sharks restarted the game on the halfway line and found Landry just inside the perimeter, only for the forward to watch his shot clip the rim and fall to the ground. A frantic Shanghai team then fouled Pan Jiang and when the Dragon player converted his first effort, Gaines acrobatically rebounded the scuffed second shot and jammed the ball home for the final play of the game.
Gaines' 31 points and 17 rebounds were critical in ensuring victory for the Dragons whilst his American teammate, Williams, scored 28, and All-Star point guard Lu Xiaoming got 15. For the Sharks, Landry stood out with a fantastic 31 point haul while Harris picked up a 20 points.
In other CBA playoff scores, champions Guangdong Tigers romped to a 116-104 victory of the Fujian Sturgeons, the Xinjiang Tigers beat the Dongguan Leopards 93-82 and the Beijing Ducks trounced the visiting Guangsha Lions 104-87.
The Sharks started strongly and thanks to Marcus Landry and Zhang Zhaoxu, opened up a double digit lead at the end of the opening 12 minutes. However, the introduction of Marcus Gaines in the second quarter helped the Dragons turn the game around.
The home side largely controlled the third quarter and began to increase their lead through Gaines' intensity in the paint as well as the deft shooting of Marcus Williams.
But with Sharks owner Yao Ming watching from the stands, Shanghai came storming back in the fourth quarter and with a couple of minutes left, the combined efforts of Landry, Zhang and Mike Harris helped the visitors come within a basket of tying the game.
Then, with 20 seconds left, Gaines, Shanxi's best player yesterday, implausibly missed a set of free-throws and suddenly the game was up for grabs. The Dragons were leading 96-95 but Shanghai had the ball with 15 seconds left. With the game on the line, the Sharks restarted the game on the halfway line and found Landry just inside the perimeter, only for the forward to watch his shot clip the rim and fall to the ground. A frantic Shanghai team then fouled Pan Jiang and when the Dragon player converted his first effort, Gaines acrobatically rebounded the scuffed second shot and jammed the ball home for the final play of the game.
Gaines' 31 points and 17 rebounds were critical in ensuring victory for the Dragons whilst his American teammate, Williams, scored 28, and All-Star point guard Lu Xiaoming got 15. For the Sharks, Landry stood out with a fantastic 31 point haul while Harris picked up a 20 points.
In other CBA playoff scores, champions Guangdong Tigers romped to a 116-104 victory of the Fujian Sturgeons, the Xinjiang Tigers beat the Dongguan Leopards 93-82 and the Beijing Ducks trounced the visiting Guangsha Lions 104-87.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
