BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- With seven players in double digits, Shenzhen overcame Beijing 118-107 to become the better side of a best-of-five series with 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2018-2019 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league on Thursday night.
Led by local players, Shenzhen started the deciding game strong with a 7-2 spurt to suppress their rivals, two 3-pointers by Gu Quan and Lu Yiwen respectively within one and a half minutes helped Shenzhen extended the lead to eight points.
Thanks to Kenny Boynton's assist, Li Muhao had a booming dunk that brought Shenzhen bench to its feet. Beijing answered with a 11-2 spurt, including six by Zhu Yanxi, and then took what was their largest lead of the night, ten points, when Aron Jackson connected on a driving layup to opened the third quarter.
From there, Shenzhen had a 7-1 run before Guo Xiaopeng's 3-pointer tied it 76-all. Boynton scored six straight points to put Shenzhen on top 84-78 before entering the fourth quarter.
A big effort from local players powered Shenzhen to outscore the visitors. Gu Quan made his third 3-pointer helped Shenzhen close out the win.
Boynton and Shen Zijie each had 18 points, Justin Hamilton scored a game-high 34 points for Beijing.
Shenzhen will face eight-time championship winners Guangdong in semifinals.
