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| - Guangdong Southern Tigers won their 10th Chinese Basketball Association title on Saturday to cap a disrupted season that was stopped for five months because of the coronavirus pandemic. In front of a smattering of spectators in face masks, Guangdong defeated Liaoning Flying Leopards 123-115 to clinch the best-of-three finals series 2-1 and retain their crown. American Sonny Weems, who played in the NBA in stints with the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers, led all scoring with 39 points for the champions. The CBA, which along with the Chinese Super League football is the most popular domestic competition in China, led the return to sporting action on June 20 after the number of reported coronavirus infections plummeted in the country. To reduce the possibility of an outbreak in the CBA, the league restarted under strict conditions in two host cities, Qingdao and Dongguan, with no spectators allowed. However, the CBA began to permit a limited number of adult fans when the play-offs began at the end of July, as long as they wore masks, sat at least one metre (three feet) apart and passed a coronavirus test within 48 hours of the game. There were no reported virus cases in the CBA after the league restarted -- a minor triumph for CBA president Yao Ming, the former Houston Rockets NBA All-Star. Guangdong's victory in front of the watching Yao in Qingdao, on China's northeastern coast, comes after the team topped the regular-season standings. pst/gle
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