Powerhouse Xinjiang hammered defending champion Sichuan 108-86 though Zhou Qi was ejected in the second quarter for his elbowing on Hamed Haddadi in the 33rd round of the 2016-2017 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league action on Wednesday.
Xinjiang's big men Andray Blatche and Zhou Qi pushed heavy pressure on Sichuan's center Haddadi and visiting team had a 14-4 run in the beginning of the game. Sichuan only got 6 points in the first 7 minutes while Xinjiang score more points in transition plays, leading the first quarter 25-20.
Xinjiang took advantages of Sichuan's turnovers and expanded the gap to 41-26, forcing the home team to call the timeout. Zhou Qi, No. 43 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, elbowed Haddadi while trying to box him out and to hold the defensive board, and he was finally ejected after the referees checked the video replay.
However, Xinjiang's attack was not affected and the team played a 10-0 rush in one and a half minutes thereafter and enlarged the gap to 27 points in the halftime. Haddadi got his the fifth personal foul at the end of third quarter and Sichuan fell behind with 21 points trap to fill.
Liu Wei's fade away shot helped Sichuan to narrow the gap to 10 points but the team could not overturn the tide, leaving the last 2 minutes as junk time. Haddadi grabbed double-double of 24 points and 19 rebounds. Darius Adams, Li Gen and Blatche combined for 65 points and Blatche added 12 boards and astonishing 8 steals.
In addition to Sichuan, three time champion Beijing, is also fighting for playoffs position. But the team was defeated by Shenzhen 92-85 while core star Stephon Marbury was suspended duo to his improper comment on referees after last round's game against Guangdong. Jeremy Pargo earned game-high 33 points and contributed 6 assists to the home team.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Shanxi beat Tongxi 127-114, Guangdong defeated Aolong 114-104, Jiangsu edged Zhejiang 121-116, Tianjin tamed Jilin 131-126, Liaoning won over Shandong 101-93, Shanghai downed Bayi 98-91, Fujian beat Qingdao 123-117, Guangsha overwhelmed Guangzhou 119-100.
