CBA Finals 2015 Results: Tracking Scores for Liaoning vs. Beijing
Defending champions Beijing Ducks face red-hot Liaoning Leopards in the finals of the 2015 CBA season, a best-of-seven playoff series that will decide this year's Chinese champions.
The Ducks are led by star point guard Stephon Marbury and bring tons of experience to the table, while reigning CBA MVP Lester Hudson does much of the scoring for a very talented team that finally looks ready to win its first championship.
The schedule for the CBA Finals:
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| Tuesday, March 10 | Liaoning | 84-103 | Beijing |
| Thursday, March 12 | Liaoning | 108-94 | Beijing |
| Sunday, March 15 | Beijing | 108-109 | Liaoning |
| Tuesday, March 17 | Beijing | TBD | Liaoning |
| Thursday, March 19 | Beijing | TBD | Liaoning |
| Sunday, March 22 | Liaoning | if necessary | Beijing |
| Tuesday, March 24 | Liaoning | if necessary | Beijing |
Game 3: Beijing 108-109 Liaoning
The Liaoning Leopards picked up a dramatic 109-108 victory over the Beijing Ducks in the third match of this thrilling CBA series.
Beijing led this game with 18 seconds remaining, but some late heroics from Lester Hudson hauled Liaoning to victory. The CBA MVP showcased his immense worth to this team by stepping up in the final moments of this back-and-forth encounter, and the Leopards will be delighted to have picked up a win in their first match away from home.
As we can see, when Stephon Marbury put the Ducks ahead in the final embers, the home supporters thought the job was pretty much done, per ONE World Sports:
Beijing began on the front foot and took a 29-23 lead into the first interval. Marbury began the game on the bench, but the Ducks were not missing his physicality, as Randolph Morris led the line with distinction for the home side.
After an emphatic loss in Game 2, the Ducks seemed intent on setting a much stronger early tempo in this match. But as the clash continued to rumble on, it was the Leopards who grew into the game, with Hudson becoming an increasingly influential presence at the forefront of this Liaoning side.
As we can see here, the MVP was beginning to rack up some impressive statistics with half-time looming large:
The mid-point buzzer saw Liaoning move 50-49 in front thanks to more astute work from Hudson and Tian-Ju He, who took the fight to the Ducks after the restart. But Beijing seized the momentum back, quickly eradicating the eight-point buffer that had been established and surging in front with the scoreline tightly poised at 87-85.
Things were about to get even closer for those in attendance, though, as the two sides traded points with the clock ticking down. With 30 seconds remaining, Liaoning had a two-point lead, but just 12 seconds later Marbury—who bagged a whopping 42 points overall—drained a three-point effort to put his back team in front.
That looked to be the end of the drama, but Hudson—who scored 31 points—showed how vital he is to this team. After already notching a triple-double, he scored the game-winner with just seconds remaining, sending his teammates into raptures and the Beijing fans home in despair.
Game 2: Liaoning 108-94 Beijing
Liaoning evened the series up at 1-1 on Thursday as they took a deserved 108-94 victory against Beijing, who lacked the consistency to add another triumph to their opening win.
Reigning CBA MVP Lester Hudson proved his worth with a galvanising display in Benxi as the Flying Leopards proved against the defending champions that this CBA Finals series should go down to the wire.
Tian-Ju He made a fast start for the hosts, moving them into an early lead, and with the Ducks unable to find their rhythm early on, Liaoning were 26-19 to the good at the end of the first quarter.
The Flying Leopards continued their momentum into the second quarter, at one point opening up a 12-point lead, but a rally from Beijing in the run up to halftime saw the gap cut to just six, per ONE World Sports:
Having started so well, Liaoning lost the initiative in the third quarter as the Ducks took the lead for the first time in the match and looked to be building up a head of steam that might carry them to a crucial victory.
They held the lead at the end of the third quarter, though only slightly, but the Flying Leopards reclaimed the advantage at 77-74 early in the final quarter.
Hudson truly came into his own as Liaoning looked to run out of sight, at one point shooting successive three-pointers for an 11-point lead with time running out for the defending champions.
As basketball writer Ed Isaacson notes, the one-time Boston Celtic was at his brilliant best in the game's latter stages:
Galvanised by their star man—Hudson scored 41 points with 12 rebounds—Liaoning closed out a comfortable win in the end and regained parity in the seven-game series.
Proceedings now move to Beijing for three consecutive clashes at the MasterCard Center—beginning on Sunday—before a return to Benxi for Game 6 and Game 7.
Game 1: Liaoning 84-103 Beijing
Liaoning kept things close for two quarters before Beijing's size started to show, as the visitors walked away with a comfortable 103-84 win in Game 1 of the CBA Finals.
Star point guard Stephon Marbury won the battle against MVP Lester Hudson, who carried the scoring load early but struggled with turnovers, while Ailun Sun was masterful from outside, stretching the Leopards' defense with excellent three-point shooting.
As shared by ONE World Sports, the Ducks' advantage in size wasn't on display early, as the visitors did an excellent job rebounding, making the most of their offensive chances:
Randolph Morris showed why he's the most offensively skilled big in the CBA in the second quarter, abusing his opponents in the post and creating acres of space for Sun and Marbury to find success from outside.
Hudson's struggles with turnovers continued, and while a hot stretch from big man Dejun Han brought Liaoning back into the game, they still trailed by six at halftime.
The Leopards continued to hang with the defending champions until midway through the third, when Marbury drained several jumpers from mid-range. Yue Sun started getting involved, and the frontcourt continued to win the battle under the boards as Beijing started to pull away.
Beijing felt comfortable turning to their big men to conserve the lead, and Liaoning made no attempts to bridge the gap with a late run.
Hudson's turnovers really hurt the Flying Leopards, who defied all expectations by effectively crashing the boards early. If Liaoning can get similar performances from their bigs, the team has a solid chance to upset last year's champions.
They'll need Hudson to win the battle against Marbury, however, and the two-time NBA All-Star was at his very best on Tuesday. If he stays hot like this, expect Beijing to comfortably win this series.
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