Zhuji (China), January 9: Dominique Jones' last second 3-pointer helped the Jilin Northeast Tigers defeat the Guangdong Southern Tigers 111-110 in the 2020-21 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) regular season here on Friday.
With very little space and even less time, Jone drifted to throw the ball outside of the line, it bounced off the backboard and went in. Jilin players celebrated just like they won the championship.
"We showed our fighting spirit. The last shot needed a little bit luck, but we did our best before it," Jilin coach Wang Han said.
30 seconds before the final shot, Zhou Peng made his layup to give Guangdong a 110-108 lead, Jones missed his first attempt but Jilin got the rebound with only four seconds left. It seemed there was very slim hope for Jilin but it was enough for the 32-year-old.
Jones notched 43 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and gave 13 assists, all the three are game-high statistics.
"We were down by 16 points, we did a good job to cut the deficit and even took the lead, but they made the last shot and it was basketball," said Marshon Brooks who had 33 for Guangdong.
Jones scored 18 points to gift Jilin 58-55 lead at halftime. He continued his unstoppable performance, adding 11 points in the third quarter to help Jilin increase its advantage to 88-80.
Brooks made five three-pointers in the single last quarter to help Guangdong turn around the table and led by 108-105. Jiang Weize answered a three to tie the game with 42 seconds on the clock, setting up the late drama.
Source: Xinhua