With Guangsha easily defeating Shanxi 88-74 in the opening game, the latest CBA rankings are out: the defending champions are in first place!

On December 13th Beijing time, the much-awaited CBA regular season began last night with the defending champions Guangsha facing the surprise package Shanxi. After four quarters of competition, Guangsha won easily 88-74, claiming their opening victory. The latest standings have been updated, with Guangsha currently leading and Shanxi ranking second!

Guangsha vs. Shanxi. This CBA season has been full of twists and turns due to the postponements of the National Games and World Cup qualifiers, only starting today. Many fans were anxiously waiting. Last season, Guangsha claimed the regular season title and made the playoffs but barely escaped defeat by Qingdao, avoiding a major upset. They then narrowly defeated Liaoning and Beijing to win their first-ever top league championship after 20 years of effort—truly remarkable. Entering this season as defending champions, they faced Shanxi in the first round. Shanxi was last season’s dark horse, finishing second in the regular season and reaching the playoff semifinals. The opener between these two teams was highly anticipated, especially with the game time reduced to four 10-minute quarters to align with international basketball standards!

Once the game started, Shanxi took the initiative as visitors, launching an inside-outside offensive wave to take the lead. However, Guangsha quickly organized their attack, scoring from multiple points and swiftly reversing the score to lead by 6 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Guangsha pressed the advantage, aggressively pulling away from Shanxi. Yet Diallo stood out, providing crucial scoring for Shanxi to keep them close. At halftime, Guangsha still held a 10-point lead. After the break, Shanxi’s offense went cold, missing many shots, while Guangsha surged, outscoring Shanxi 23-12 in the third quarter, pushing the gap beyond 20 points. In the final quarter, Shanxi did not give up, with Diallo leading a steady comeback, but the deficit was too large to overcome. Ultimately, Guangsha had four players scoring in double figures and easily controlled the game against Shanxi!

Judging by this game, both teams, as last season’s semifinalists, performed quite poorly—numerous fouls, missed free throws, and very low entertainment value. It was mostly foreign players carrying the load, with domestic players getting very limited opportunities. If this continues, how can the level of Chinese men’s basketball improve? It’s truly disheartening!

Today, December 13th, six games are scheduled, with powerhouse teams Beijing and Liaoning both set to play. We look forward to exciting matchups—let’s wait and see!

Written by / Sports Fiction