Led by 22 points from Houston Rockets' Zhou Qi, who finished with 16 rebounds and three blocks for the game, China stormed into the Asian Games men's basketball final Thursday night with a thumping 86-63 victory over Chinese Taipei.
Zhou Qi's NBA teammate Ding Yanyuhang also displayed a bright spark with 14 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Wang Zhelin chipped in 18 points and 9 rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers.
The Team Red jumped ahead 11-3 to start the game, but Chinese Taipei responded with a 5-0 run to cut it to 11-8. Wang Zhelin came up with a brilliant shot to end Chinese Taipei’s spurt, and after one more Taipei resurgence, China closed with six straight points to lead 26-19 at the first break.
Chinese Taipei took much better care of the ball in the second quarter and surged ahead by a 30-31 margin, but Zhou Qi, who turned in a solid all-around effort with four three-pointers, helped China reclaim the advantage and carry a 37-30 lead into the locker room.
China stepped onto the gas pedal in the third period and their 7-point halftime lead quickly ballooned to 21 points after Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin again played a major part in their team’s 31-12 scoring edge. Then a shot by Liu Zhixuan helped Team Red take a commanding 68-42 lead at the third-quarter break.
As Li Nan's side already had secured the win, Chinese Taipei outscored China 21-18 in the fourth quarter to bring the game to its 86-63 final.
In Thursday's other semifinal, Iran cruised past South Korea 80-68 in a rematch of the Asian Games final four years ago in Incheon which was won by the hosts by two points.
China, who reached their first Asiad final in 8 years, will take on Iran on Saturday in a mouth-watering showdown for the men's basketball title.
Hu Zhicheng
