Regular-season leaders Jiangsu Nangang lost their opening game 86-107 to Guangdong Hongyuan as the Chinese Basketball Association league reeled off its second-round best-of-three conference placing series.
In Dongguan, Hongyuan unexpectedly exploited their home advantage for a lop-sided match against regular-season leaders as they opened the game 5-0 for a 25-21 lead in the first period.
Coach and player Hu Weidong hoped to overrun the scoreboard in the second period with his three-pointers, and his efforts were fruitless as the home side run to a 52-36 half advantage. Hu only made one of five 3-pointers during his 17 minutes.
Wang Shipeng led Guangdong with 25 points, while Yi Jianlian, Zhu Fangyu and Du Feng added 20, 16 and 15 points respectively for the winners.
In another South Division tie, Yunnan Honghe lost their home game to Bayi Shuanglu 101-118.
North Division leaders Liaoning Panpan scored their away game, beating Beijing Ducks 114-92 and Jilin Tigers also had a sweet start, outpointing Xinjiang Guanghui 119-103 at home.
(CRI March 17, 2005)
