BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Shenzhen pulled off a stunning upset by beating Shandong 129-103 in the 27th round action of the 2017-2018 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league on Tuesday.
Before Tuesday's games, Shenzhen ranked ninth on the CBA standings while Shandong was at the third place, only one game behind the leaders Guangsha.
With former NBA player Ding Yanyuhang, Shandong was the favorite to win. But the home team stormed a 18-2 run at the beginning and enlarged the gap to stunning 31 points. The two teams ended the first quarter 47-16.
Shandong tried to fight back from the second quarter. More three-pointers helped the visiting team cut the gap to 19 points. Unfortunately, Shandong's defense wasn't good enough to stop Shenzhen scorers, especially Jared Sullinger.
In the second half, Shenzhen kept its hot shooting rhythm. Shandong shooters couldn't find the rim again.
Shandong didn't want to give up, trying more attack ways in the last quarter. Thanks to Sullinger's highlight performance, Shenzhen finally put out Shandong's late surge, sealing the victory with 129-103.
Sullinger had 40 points, 31 rebounds and eight assists. Gu Quan added 30 points. Shandong's center Ding finished with only 19 points.
League leaders Guangsha had an easy win, beating Sichuan 124-100. Courtney Fortson of Guangsha got a game-high 34 points while Hamed Haddadi had 20 points for Sichuan.
In other games on Tuesday, Jilin tamed Tianjin 114-94, Fujian beat Aolong 135-121, Shanghai downed Beijing 88-79, Qingdao lost to Liaoning 105-115, Shanxi defeated Zhejiang 106-102, Guangzhou moved over Tongxi 123-120.
