Buzzer-beater helps Jilin shock Beijing, Shenzhen beat Shandong

NANCHANG, China - Dominique Jones' buzzer-beater layup helped the Jilin Northeast Tigers edge the Beijing Ducks 104-102 in the 2021-2022 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs on Saturday.

Jones made the winning buzzer-beater with a mere 0.1 second on the clock, giving Jilin their first playoff victory since 2005. The 34-year-old shooting guard had a triple-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Beijing fell behind by 12 points in the second quarter but cut the deficit to four points as Fang Shuo scored five straight points to close the third quarter. Although Jilin set up a seven-point lead with three minutes left, Jonathan Gibson led Beijing back to the game as he buried a four-point play to put Beijing ahead with 102-100.

Jones tied the game at 102 with 34 seconds remaining, then Gibson missed the winning shot for Beijing before Jones' layup help Jilin win the opener of the best-of-three first round.

Jilin's Jiang Zewei finished with 28 points, while Jiang Xingyu scored 17 points. Jeremy Lin contributed 23 points for Beijing, while Gibson added 20 points.

Also on Friday, the Shenzhen Aviators defeated the Shandong Heroes 115-101. Jared Sullinger scored a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Shen Zijie had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Shenzhen.

The game witnessed a seesaw battle with Shenzhen establishing a six-point advantage after three quarters. Sullinger led Shenzhen to hit a 19-6 run to make the double-digit lead and secured the win.