URUMQI, China, March 22 (Xinhua) -- International point-guard Donald Sloan scored 29 points, helping Guangdong crush Xinjiang to enter the semifinals with a 118-94 road win in 2017-2018 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs on Thursday night.
Leading by Donald Sloan's fast breaks, visiting Guangdong enjoyed a dream start of 20-2 run. Defending champions Xinjiang missed three attempts of the 3-pointers, only to see Guangdong keeping their lead with 35-16 in the first quarter.
Star-caliber Darius Adams shot behind the arc and made a free throw to help the home team Xinjiang narrow the gap to 13 points in the first half.
However, Andrew Nicholson and Donald Sloan's hot hands gifted Guangdong the controlling tempo of the match in the second half, and the 8-time CBA champions finally took the win with 118-94.
Darius Adams scored a game-high 30 points and 7 rebounds for Xinjiang, and veteran Li Gen got 16 points.
Guangdong's Donald Sloan had a team-high 29 points and 6 assists, followed by 28 points from rising star Zhao Rui.
"I'm very happy to win this tough series, now we should prepare for the next opponent," said Guangdong coach Jonas Kazlauskas.
After beating Xinjiang 3-1 on aggregate, Guangdong will face Liaoning in their 16-time semifinals trip in a row.
