CBA playoffs: Shanghai crush Beijing to reach last eight
The Shanghai Sharks trounced the Beijing Ducks 118-98 in the deciding Game 3 at home to advance into the last eight of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league playoffs on Tuesday.
Beijing forced the series to a tie-breaker with a home win on Sunday in the best-of-three first round.
After a close first quarter with Beijing leading by two points, Shanghai started the second quarter with an overwhelming 18-2 run and concluded the first half with a 21-point lead.
Shanghai continued to strengthen the advantage in the second half and once enlarged the gap to 30 points. The away team failed to turn around in the rest of the game.
Liu Zheng and Yan Pengfei of Shanghai pocketed 26 and 22 points respectively, while Beijing's Marcus Keene grabbed 30 points.
In the quarterfinal, Shanghai will face the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. "We need to maintain our momentum and try our best to deal with the challenge in the series against Zhejiang," said Shanghai head coach Liu Peng.