1996–97 CBA season

1996–97 CBA season
League	Chinese Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 27, 1996 – March 30, 1997
TV partner/s	CCTV-5
Regular Season
Season champions	Bayi Rockets
Season MVP	Hu Weidong
Promoted from Second Division	Shanghai Sharks Sichuan Pandas
Relegated to Second Division	Zhejiang Squirrels Ji'nan Army
Playoffs
Finals
Finals champions	Bayi Rockets
Runners-up	Liaoning Hunters
CBA seasons
← 1995–96	1997–98 →

The 1996-97 CBA season is the 2nd CBA season.

The season ran from November 27, 1996 to March 30, 1997. Shanghai Sharks and Sichuan Pandas were promoted from the Second Division.^[1]^[2]

1 Regular Season Standings
2 Playoffs
3 Relegations
4 All-star Weekend
5 CBA Awards
6 References
7 See also

Regular Season Standings

^[2]

#	1996–97 CBA season
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Tiebreaker
1	Bayi Rockets	19	3	.864	-	10–1	9–2
2	Liaoning Hunters	18	4	.818	1	9–2	9–2
3	Shandong Flaming Bulls	14	8	.637	5	8–3	6–5
4	Guangdong Southern Tigers	13	9	.591	6	8–3	5–6	GD 1-1(151-145) SH
5	Shanghai Sharks	13	9	.591	6	8–3	5–6	GD 1-1(151-145) SH
6	Jiangsu Dragons	12	10	.545	7	7–4	5–6
7	Air Force	9	13	.409	10	6–5	3–8	AF 1-1(162-161) SA
8	Shenyang Army	9	13	.409	10	8–3	1–10	AF 1-1(162-161) SA

9	Beijing Ducks	8	14	.364	11	5–6	3–8
10	Zhejiang Squirrels	7	15	.318	12	6–5	1–10	ZJ 1-1(151-142) SC
11	Sichuan Pandas	7	15	.318	12	7–4	0–11	ZJ 1-1(151-142) SC
12	Ji'nan Army	3	19	.136	16	3–8	0–11

Key to colors
	Top 8 teams advance to the Playoffs
	Bottom 4 teams advance to the Relegation Round

Playoffs

The top 8 teams in the regular season advanced to the playoffs.

In the Final series, Bayi Rockets defeated Liaoning Hunters (2-0) for the CBA championship.^[2]

Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals

1	Bayi Rockets	128	110	2
8	Shenyang Army	78	69	0
					1	Bayi Rockets	109	119	2

					4	Guangdong Southern Tigers	81	84	0
4	Guangdong Southern Tigers	84	87	2

5	Shanghai Sharks	74	82	0
										1	Bayi Rockets	100	102	2

										2	Liaoning Hunters	68	66	0
3	Shandong Flaming Bulls	102	77	2

6	Jiangsu Dragons	72	74	0
					3	Shandong Flaming Bulls	70	77	0

					2	Liaoning Hunters	93	78	2
2	Liaoning Hunters	80	85	2

7	Air Force	55	77	0

5-8 Classification					Fifth Place

8	Shenyang Army	92	72	1(164)
5	Shanghai Sharks	91	94	1(185)
					5	Shanghai Sharks	90	68	1(158)
					6	Jiangsu Dragons	73	96	1(169)
6	Jiangsu Dragons	121	105	2
7	Air Force	118	99	0

Third Place

4	Guangdong Southern Tigers	87	78	1(165)
3	Shandong Flaming Bulls	69	79	1(148)

Seventh Place

8	Shenyang Army	99	75	1(174)
7	Air Force	94	97	1(191)

Relegations

The bottom 4 teams played the relegation round by round-robin.

Zhejiang Squirrels and Ji'nan Army were relegated to the Second Division.^[2]

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD
Beijing Ducks	5	1	500	432	+68
Sichuan Pandas	4	2	447	424	+23
Zhejiang Squirrels	3	3	445	464	−19
Ji'nan Army	0	6	453	525	−72

Key to colors
	Bottom 2 teams relegated to the Second Division

	BJ	JA	SC	ZJ
Beijing Ducks	–	92-82	71-64	95-69
Ji'nan Army	75-92	–	79-85	77-90
Sichuan Pandas	76-70	81-69	–	74-64
Zhejiang Squirrels	66-80	85-71	71-67	–

All-star Weekend

The 1997 CBA All-star Game were played on April 5, 1997 in Shanghai. The Southern All-stars defeated the Northern All-stars 98-84. Hu Weidong from Jiangsu Nangang were given The All-star Game MVP Award.

James Hodges from Liaoning Hunters won the Slam Dunk Contest, and Saulius Štombergas from Shanghai Sharks won the Three-Point Shootout. ^[1]

CBA Awards

^[1]

Most Valuable Player: Hu Weidong, Jiangsu Nangang
Best Techniques Award: Gong Xiaobin, Shandong
Sportsmanship Award: Liu Yudong, Bayi Rockets

References

^ ^a ^b ^c 新浪体育 (2005-12-07). "96-97赛季CBA-冠名希尔顿胡卫东当选MVP". http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2005-12-07/01571921209.shtml. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 搜狐体育. "Data Source". http://cbadata.sports.sohu.com/ranking/teams/1996. Retrieved 2011-11-25.