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Bayi, Shanghai Win CBA Semi-final Opener Games on Road
Regular season's winners Bayi Rockets and runners-up Shanghai Sharks opened their semi-final round of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) with victories on the road on Sunday.
Defending champions Bayi survived a second-half comeback from Jilin Northeast Tigers to win 124-122 in the best-of-five semi- finals in Changchun, while Shanghai crashed Beijing Ducks 97-81 in Beijing.
The second and third games will be moved to the home court of the teams who had better records in the regular season.
At Changchun Stadium, which holds the best home court record in the league, Bayi barely surrendered 11-point lead in the first half at 71-59, thanks to forward Liu Yudong's 36 and center Wang Zhizhi's 33 points.
Bayi held the opponents to 22 points in the second quarter, but lost ground in the following game when they failed to stop the league's points leader Sun Jun, who buried seven three-points to score 47 points.
In Beijing, the home team tied the first three quarters at 71- 71 with their bigger and stronger rivals before they collapsed in the decisive fourth.
The 2.23-meter pivot Yao Ming opened a 17-5 run in eight minutes with two baskets against Beijing's center Bateer, 13cm lower than Yao, ending with 21 points and 20 rebounds.
American guard Damon Stringer constantly broke into Beijing's loose defence to score 22 points for the Sharks and he successfully held Beijing's shooting guard Rasul Salahudda to 11 points at the other end of the court.
In the relegation play-offs, Shandong Flaming Bulls defeated Shenyang Army 99-92 on the road, while the visiting Zhejiang Cyclones ousted Jinan Army 99-91.
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