Xinjiang beat Guangdong 117-109 to sweep their opponent 4-0 in the best-of-seven finals to became the sixth champion of CBA here in Guangdong on Friday. Darius Adams was awarded the finals MVP.
Xinjiang have lost to Guangdong for three consecutive years in CBA finals since their finals debut in 2008-2009 season. They also suffered a 2-4 defeat against Beijing in 2014. The 2016-2017 regular season champion now became the sixth finals winner of CBA history after Bayi, Shanghai, Guangdong, Beijing and Sichuan.
Guangdong clinched the championship title in 2013 to be the biggest winner of CBA with eight titles.
Trailed by 0-3 after the previous games, Guangdong started the match 27-17 with strong defense, leading by 10 points into the second quarter.
Xinjiang stormed 13-2 in the first two and half minutes after the break to take the lead. Guangdong hit two three-pointers to cut the deficit down to 49-53 before the interval.
Former NBA player Yi Jianlian were forced to sit on the bench due to his fourth foul in the match, but Carlos Boozer and Donald Sloan contributed next 10 points for Guangdong. However, Xinjiang still had a two-digit advantage before the fourth quarter.
The aged Guangdong gradually lost their energy in the last quarter. After trying to block Darius Adams's layup, Yi was not able to continue the match to step off the court with less than two minutes left on the clock. Another two points of Adams finished the match 117-109, Xinjiang's players ran onto the court to celebrate their victory.
The finals MVP Adams had a game-high 37 points for Xinjiang, Zhou Qi contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds. Boozer led Guangdong with 28 points and 17 rebounds, Sloan and Zhou Peng respectively had 26 and 22 points.
