The Chiba Jets Funabashi will play at Yokohama Arena with the B. League title on the line for a third time after they defeated the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the playoff semifinals.
The Jets cruised past the Golden Kings 89-71 in the decisive third game of the final-four round at the brand-new Okinawa Arena on Monday night.
Ryukyu nailed 11 3-point shots in Sunday's 84-78 Game 2. But the Golden Kings shot 6 of 33 from behind the arc on Monday, costing the Western Conference club its first finals berth.
Guard Shannon Shorter led Chiba with 17 points and five assists.
Guard Ryuichi Kishimoto, who was one of the heroes in Ryukyu’s victory, went 0-for-9 in 3-point attempts and scored only six points in Monday's loss.
Chiba out-rebounded the Kings 48-33.
The Jets, who lost twice to the Alvark Tokyo in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 finals, will face the Utsunomiya Brex in the best-of-three finals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoffs were not played last year, so Chiba is making the postseason for the third straight year.
“Nobody’s forgotten the frustration of losing in the last two Finals,” Jets star guard Yuki Togashi said. “We would like to finally win the championship this time around.”
The finals will kick off on Saturday.