Beijing beat Guangdong to lead 2-0 in CBA semifinals

Beijing's forward Li Gen scored 12 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth period as the defending champions beat Guangdong 103-96 to lead 2-0 in the best-of-five series of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) semifinal here on Friday.

Beijing are just one win away from their third CBA finals appearance in four years.

Beijing had a 12-0 run before halftime and led 13 points in the third quarter, but the host Guangdong answered with a 13-2 run to narrow the gap to just two points. Thanks to Li Gen's three-pointer, Beijing headed into the final quarter leading 76-72.

Will Bynum's lay-up with three minutes and 53 seconds left tied the score at 90-90 for Guangdong and forced Beijing to call a timeout. Li Gen then hit his fourth three-pointer in the game to enlarge Beijing's advantage to five.

Beijing's guard Stephon Marbury made two of his three free throws, followed by Zhao Xiaochuan's lay-up, to secure Beijing the win.

Former NBA player Yi Jianlian recorded a double-double of 30 points and 17 rebounds for Guangdong. Yi also drew 19 of Beijing's 31 fouls but missed nine free throws. Bynum notched a match-high 32 points but only dished out three assists.

Zhu Fangyu also scored double figure of 11. Wang Shipeng was 1-of-6 in three-pointer attempts while Guangdong's the other foreign player Jeff Adrien had only six points in 32 minutes.

Marbury and Randolph Morris combined to contribute 42 points for Beijing. Sun Yue buried four three-pointers to add 14 points as well as four steals and five assists. Zhai Xiaochun grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Trailing 0-2 in the series, Guangdong face a mission impossible to rally back with no team had ever come back in the situation in the history of CBA.

The third game will be played in Dongguan on Sunday. Endi