Dongguan scores first victory of new CBA season
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Power forward Zhang Kai had 27 points and 18 rebounds to give Dongguan Marco Polo the first victory of the season by beating Shandong Gold 112-102 on the road on Sunday in the Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA).
Zhang led five players in double-digit numbers to improve the record to 1-3 for Dongguan, which finished third last season.
After a brief drawback at the start, Dongguan used a 11-0 run to take the control of the game and never looked back, leading as many as 21 points in the third quarter.
Dongguan used only one foreign players for the four games as the other one, Alexander Johnson, was taking a three-week injury rest.
Last-season's MVP (Most Valuable Player) Zhu Fangyu returned from an injury for 13 points to help Guangdong Hongyuan take a 4-0 record by defeating Qingdao Double Stars 135-103 at Qingdao.
The defending champions Hongyuan played without top-scorer Zhu in the first three matches but still averaged 112.5 points to lead the league.
Forward Dong Hanlin led seven players in double digits by 25 points and eight rebounds as the 18-year-old shot 10-out-of-13 in the field.
Yao Ming's team, Shanghai Sharks, nailed down the second straight win as they beat Tianjin Ronggang 113-105 in overtime on the road.
After trouncing Beijing Ducks for the record-breaking margin 132-89 on Friday, the Sharks celebrated the last match with Boss Yao before the New Year.
John Lucas III, Yao's former teammate in the Houston Rockets, pulled down an overtime as he buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 15 seconds to go in the regular time. The Sharks did not waste the chance to have the second win of the season.
In Sunday's other matches, Jiangsu Dragons beat Shaanxi Kylin 120-98, Xinjiang Guanghui beat Jilin Northeast Tigers 94-88, Bayi Fubang beat Beijing Ducks 102-97, Zhejiang Chouzhou beat Fujian SBS 104-87, and Zhejiang Guangsha beat Shanxi Zhongyu 88-84.
