Sichuan Blue Whales defeated the Liaoning Flying Leopards with a 96-87 victory to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven finals series on Friday, moving a win closer to their first ever Chinese Basketball Association title.

Foreign reinforcement Mike Harris led the host team with a double-double game performance of 34 points and 10 rebounds, while Justin Dentmon contributed 11 points and eight boards.

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Chinese forwards Meng Da and Zhang Chunjun finished the game with 15 and 14 points, respectively. The towering Iranian and former NBA center Hamed Haddadi ruled the boards by grabbing 20 rebounds and chipped in with 13 points and four assists for the Blue Whales.

Sichuan has been fined 150,000 yuan by the CBA for being unable to ensure the away team's safety following Wednesday's mass brawl.

The Liaoning team is obviously still affected from the untoward incident. The Flying Leopard's center Han Dejun almost lost his temper during the game. He was given a technical foul for continuously challenging the official when he was whistled for his fourth personal foul in the beginning of the second half.

Dejun finished the match with 10 points and eight rebounds.

 The fifth foul limited his time to play. Han also missed several scoring chances as he shot the ball just too hard.

"It is not an easy match for us. All players were under great pressure," Liaoning head coach Guo Shiqiang, said. "But they played like fighters. We will do our best to defend our spirit and try to bring the series back to Liaoning, no matter how difficult it will be."

Two-time CBA foreign MVP Lester Hudson led the Flying Leopards with a double-double game production of 31 points and 10 rebounds and Shavlik Randolph added 11 points and six boards.

While Guo Ailun, who was seen exchanging punches with fans in the brawl, scored 18 points, dished out six assists and grabbed five rebounds for Liaoning.

Game five of the championship series will be played on Chengdu on Sunday.

Tagscba finals, Sichuan Blue Whales, Liaoning Flying Leopards, Guo Ailun, Hamed Haddadi, Mike Harris, Lester Hudson