Eric Moreland nailed down all his 11 attempts to help the league leader Liaoning Flying Leopards thrash the bottom-of-table Sichuan Blue Whales 113-66, while the
Moreland led Liaoning with 22 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the only player to have 11 attempts and maintain a 100% shooting percentage in a game for the last two seasons. The last time a player had such achievement was the Zhejiang Lions' Hu Jinqiu in the 2021-2022 season.
Cong Mingchen netted four 3-pointers to score 16 points for the defending champion Liaoning, and Yan Shouqi added 12. For Sichuan, Wang Xinkai contributed a team-high 14 points, and Yu Xiaoyong added 13.
Liaoning was on a three-game winning streak after the game and kept standing on the top of the table, while Sichuan, who now has a bleak record of four wins and 42 losses, suffered a 16-game losing streak.
In another game that matters in terms of playoff berths, Qingdao's turnover on the sideline inbound play with 0.8 seconds left allowed Guangzhou to narrowly win. Guangzhou's starters all scored double digits, with Morris Kemp taking a team-high 23. Myles Powell took a game-high 28 points for Qingdao, and Wang Ruize added 24.
Qingdao lost the recent three games to slide to the ninth place, and Guangzhou won the latest four to climb to the tenth, followed by the Shanxi Loongs and the Beijing Ducks. According to the newest CBA playbook, the top 12 teams get playoff tickets.
Also on Thursday, Shanxi beat the Jilin Northeast Tigers 108-101, the Zhejiang Lions defeated the Tianjin Pioneers 110-101, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls whipped the Shenzhen Aviators 112-86 and the Fujian Sturgeons cruised past the Ningbo Rockets 104-90.
