While the Ducks were fighting, the Tigers were resting and watching.

Now, it's time for them to stretch their muscles a bit.

The Guangdong Southern Tigers, who swept the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, 3-0, on March 9 to book the first Finals berth, waited an extra four days after the fifth game of the Beijing-Shanxi series was postponed due to the postgame chaos in Taiyuan on March 11.

Too much rest may have affected the team's rhythm and dulled its momentum, said Wang Shipeng, Guangdong's prolific scorer.

"Our problem is we have been waiting too long, which makes it hard to get back in fighting form again. The prolonged schedule made it tougher," Wang told sina.com after watching Beijing's game against Shanxi with teammates at the club's base in Guangdong.

"We've been training hard for the Finals. But without being tested in real games, we can't make it into our best shape. But mentally, we never lost our focus."

The 28-year-old averaged 12.5 points a game this season.

Young guard Liu Xiaoyu agreed with Wang, stressing it will be hard to handle such competitive games after ceasing fire for almost two weeks.

Meanwhile, the postponement triggered extra costs for the club.

The team's contracts with Aaron Brooks and James Singleton, its two American imports, were set to expire at the end of March.

Instead, the team must pay them extra because the Finals will stretch into early April.

"The CBA made the decision without asking for our opinions," said Guangdong general manager Liu Hongjiang. "A pro league shouldn't change its schedule randomly like this. Who's going to pay us the extra money?"

Although annoyed by the change, the squad remains committed to finishing the final series as quickly as possible.

"The faster the better," Wang said. "Hopefully, we can sweep them in four games."

Liu remains cautious about underestimating the Ducks.

"Beijing has grown a lot this year led by Marbury," he said. "We have a better local roster. So we should try hard to limit its Marbruy-Morris tandem. That's the key to victory."

- Sun Xiaochen

(China Daily 03/20/2012 page24)