China News Service, Hangzhou, March 6 (Guo Tianqi) The third phase of the 2023-2024 Chinese Men’s Professional Basketball League (CBA) will kick off on the evening of the 6th.

After nearly a month of offseason, the Guangsha team will usher in the first game of the third stage of the regular season at home on the evening of the 7th.

At this stage, Guangsha’s core Sun Minghui, who was previously sidelined due to injury, will most likely return. General Xu Zhonghao is expected to return. New foreign aid Weatherspoon will make his debut. The reinforced Guangsha team will strive to stay in the top four of the regular season and strive to Directly advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

The picture shows Guangsha team player Sun Minghui.

Photo by Guo Tianqi

  Judging from the current rankings and data in the standings, the "leaders" Liaoning team and Xinjiang team have the same score of 71 points, and have confirmed two playoff seats 13 rounds in advance; the Jiangsu team and the Sichuan team at the bottom of the standings have the same score. With 43 points, they have missed the playoffs; the Shanxi and Tianjin teams ranked 11th and 12th are on the edge of promotion, and the Beijing, Nanjing and Shandong teams standing at the "doorway" of the playoffs are eyeing it.

  For the Guangsha team, which is temporarily ranked fourth in the standings, it is not difficult to obtain a ticket to the playoffs. However, it will face a lot of challenges if it wants to ensure the top four in the regular season and directly advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

If they can advance smoothly and avoid going from 12 to 8, the Guangsha team will get more rest and adjustment time to deal with subsequent strong enemies.

  Currently, the leading Liaoning team and Xinjiang team maintain obvious advantages, followed by Zhejiang team with 68 points, Guangsha team with 65 points, only 1 point higher than the Guangdong team and Shenzhen team behind them, while the same score of 62 points Beijing Control Team, Qingdao Team and Shanghai Team may also advance to the top four and act as "spoilers".

  Now that the third stage of the regular season is about to resume, good news has come one after another from the Guangsha team: General Xu Zhonghao, who has been away from the game for 7 months, is expected to return. In addition, the Guangsha team recently officially announced that it has cooperated with the former NBA Warriors champion member and former NBA Warriors champion. Tianjin men's basketball player Weatherspoon signed. As a wing player, Weatherspoon has good breakthrough ability. Thanks to his 206 cm wingspan, he also has a larger defensive area.

Weatherspoon's arrival may relieve Sun Minghui's pressure and prepare for the playoffs.

The picture shows Guangsha team player Hu Jinqiu.

Photo by Guo Tianqi

  At the end of the second stage of the regular season, Guangsha core Sun Minghui announced a truce due to a knee injury after a tough battle with the Guangdong team. In the CBA All-Star Game a few days ago, Sun Minghui teamed up with his teammate Hu Jinqiu to represent the Southern District. He scored 14 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in 15 minutes of playing time, showing a good competitive state.

In the third stage, if Sun Minghui can make a smooth comeback, he will be the key to the team's direct advancement to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. His cooperation with new foreign aid Weatherspoon is also worth looking forward to.

  In addition, Hu Jinqiu and Zhu Junlong, who have just experienced national team competitions, have also returned to the team for training.

In the Asian Cup qualifying group match against the Japanese men's basketball team, Hu Jinqiu scored 23 points and 12 rebounds. Although he failed to help the Chinese men's basketball team win, his performance is still worthy of recognition.

This season's CBA regular season, Hu Jinqiu and Sun Minghui, who both won the honor of CBA Domestic Player of the Month, will also join hands again in the third stage to show the power of Guangsha's "Twin Stars".

  In the third stage of the regular season, the Guangsha team has 7 home games and 6 away games.

In the first match of the third stage on the evening of March 7, the Guangsha team will face the challenge of the Shanghai team at home. On April 6, they will face the Liaoning team in the final game of the league.

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