The Beijing Ducks claimed a thrilling 103-102 comeback victory over the Nanjing Monkey Kings, while the Shandong Heroes crushed the Guangdong Southern Tigers 112-88 in
Nanjing started strongly in the Ducks' first home game at Wukesong Sports Center of this season, as Antonio Blakeney, Wang Lanqin and Wu Tingjia jointly hit five three-pointers in the first quarter.
The visitors maintained their momentum in the second period and built a 17-point lead at the halftime.
The third quarter witnessed the home side claw back to narrow the gap to just one point.
With three minutes 22 seconds left to go, Beijing managed to level the game at 94-94 after Shannon Evans II made three free throws. Lin Wei of Nanjing and Evans then scored back and forth, before Zhang Cairen's three-pointer put Beijing ahead 100-99.
Lin and Blakeney had opportunities to kill the game in the last seconds but failed to make the shots.
Evans led Beijing with 34 points and six assists, while Blakeney and Lin scored 25 and 24 points respectively.
Also on Wednesday, Marial Shayok had 31 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, leading Shandong to overpower Guangdong. After the first three quarters, Guangdong trailed only by seven points, but was outscored 34-17 in the final quarter.
"Our team had a good start, but young players didn't perform well defensively, which also influenced our offense," Guangdong's head coach Du Feng said after the game.
Elsewhere, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls defeated the Guangzhou Loong Lions 105-100, and the Fujian Sturgeons trounced the Sichuan Blue Whales 140-129.
