BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- CBA defending champions Guangdong Southern Tigers are set to wrap up the 2020-21 regular season on top place with four rounds remaining through their comfortable victory on Saturday.
In their first match after leading scorer Marshon Brooks had ruptured his Achilles tendon, Guangdong sailed past the Shenzhen Aviators 114-95 to improve their record to 44-5 with three games to play.
The Liaoning Flying Leopards currently sit second with a 40-9 record, and could reach 45-9 at maximum in the regular season, but still could not overtake Guangdong in terms of winning percentage.
Riding on an eight-game winning streak, the 10-time CBA champions claim top place in regular season for the third straight season, and 14 times in the league's 26-year history.
Without Brooks, Guangdong's domestic backcourt trio of Zhao Rui, Hu Mingxuan and Xu Jie combined for 59 points against Shenzhen. Enditem