BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Zhejiang Golden Bulls and the Shanghai Sharks seized victory to claim their eighth and ninth consecutive win, respectively, in the 22nd round of 2024-25 Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) regular season.
Six players of Zhejiang scored in double digits to defeat the Guangdong Southern Tigers 102-87. Zhejiang's Kobi Simmons pocketed a game-high 24 points, while his teammate Yu Jiahao contributed 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Guangdong only took 15 points in the fourth quarter, and the team's head coach Du Feng expressed his disappointment after the match.
"We reflected on our performance every day, but the team often made the same mistakes on the court. We still need to accumulate experience and improve ourselves, both offensively and defensively," Du noted.
Shanghai bounced back from a slow start of the season with one win and nine losses, as the Sharks clinched its ninth consecutive win after beating the Fujian Sturgeons 114-92.
Former NBA player Kenneth Lofton came off the bench to register 28 points and 13 rebounds for Shanghai, while Li Tianrong and Wang Zhelin added 23 and 19 points respectively for the home win.
Li said after the match that the team's "strong defense helped us win the game. We tried to complete more fast breaks and strengthen our team efforts. We will strive for the tenth consecutive win in the next match against the Beijing Royal Fighters."
In the current round, the Royal Fighters lost to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 100-93, while the Beijing Ducks also suffered a painful loss to the Shandong Heroes 113-107.
Elsewhere, the Shanxi Loongs defeated the Shenzhen Leopards 132-127, the Ningbo Rockets won over the Jiangsu Dragons 101-93, and the Qingdao Eagles crushed the Tianjin Pioneers 123-95.
In other games, the Zhejiang Lions eased past the Sichuan Blue Whales 108-83, the Liaoning Flying Leopards edged the Guangzhou Loong Lions 98-97, while the Nanjing Monkey Kings saw off the Jilin Northeast Tigers 106-85. ■
