With Guangzhou defeating Shenzhen and Shanghai overcoming Qingdao, the latest CBA standings have seen a change at the top, with fierce competition among the top four teams.

On January 8th Beijing time, the 12th round of the CBA regular season began intensely. Two matches finished last night, including the derby where Guangdong edged out Shenzhen 110-105, and Qingdao was soundly beaten by Shanghai 73-90. Consequently, Shanghai’s 8-game winning streak propelled them to the top of the standings, Guangdong climbed to second, Qingdao dropped to fifth after back-to-back defeats, and Shenzhen sits sixth!

Guangdong versus Shenzhen. In the previous round, Guangdong suffered their second loss of the season after a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Zhejiang. This round’s derby against Shenzhen saw both teams battling fiercely. Guangdong’s offense struggled early in the first quarter, while Shenzhen’s multi-point attack led to a 24-16 quarter score. In the second quarter, Guangdong’s outside shooting heated up, quickly closing the gap, trailing by just one point at halftime. The second half turned into an offensive shootout with both sides exchanging blows in a tightly contested battle, described as a clash of titans. After three quarters, Guangdong led by 4 points. The final quarter remained intense with the score close, but Guangdong’s key players erupted late, with Salinger extending the lead and Xu Jie’s crucial shot sealing the win. In the end, Guangdong narrowly defeated Shenzhen in a thrilling match!

Qingdao versus Shanghai. Qingdao collapsed early in this game, missing many shots, while Shanghai launched an offensive storm, scoring 33-8 in the first quarter, completely overwhelming Qingdao. In the second quarter, Qingdao improved their offense and began to claw back some points but remained far behind. The second half saw both teams with low offensive efficiency, resulting in a tight struggle. Qingdao failed to close the gap again, while Shanghai steadily maintained a 20-point lead. Ultimately, Shanghai crushed Qingdao with relentless momentum, extending their winning streak to 8 games—the longest currently in the league—and reclaimed the top spot, earning the number one ranking once again!

Currently, in the latest standings, Shanghai is in strong form, riding an 8-game winning streak to retake first place. Guangdong has surged to second. The competition among the top four is extremely fierce, with only two losses separating them. The battle for the top spot is also intense. The longest losing streak belongs to Sichuan, who have lost 11 straight games without a win, followed by Jiangsu with 6 consecutive losses!

Written by / Sports Fiction