BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Sharks cruised past the Sichuan Blue Whales 111-71 at home in the 28th round to extend their winning streak to nine games in the 2025-26 Chinese Basketball Association regular season.
Li Hongquan scored 21 points and added five rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes, leading seven Shanghai players in double figures as the league leader improved to 24-4.
The winless Blue Whales trailed just 25-21 at the end of the first quarter, but the Sharks blew the game open with a 34-14 second quarter and went on to claim their 13th win in the last 14 games.
Zhao Rui scored a season-high 34 points to lead the Beijing Ducks to a 93-83 away win over the Liaoning Flying Leopards.
Trailing 70-68 early in the fourth quarter, Beijing responded with a 14-2 run to open up an 82-72 lead with 4:30 remaining and held on for the win, bouncing back from Thursday's surprising 109-104 loss to the Fujian Sturgeons.
"It's a hard-fought win. I'm happy our players were able to quickly adjust after a bad loss," said Beijing head coach Xu Limin.
Elsewhere Saturday, the Nanjing Monkey Kings lost 95-88 to the Qingdao Eagles, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls beat the Jilin Northeast Tigers 98-73, the Fujian Sturgeons fell 100-98 to the Shanxi Loongs, and the Ningbo Rockets lost 95-83 to the Guangzhou Loong Lions.
Friday, defending champion Zhejiang Lions beat the Beijing Royal Fighters 97-86, the Jiangsu Dragons upset the Guangdong Southern Tigers 93-92, the Shandong Heroes thrashed the Tianjin Pioneers 115-91, and the Shenzhen Aviators routed the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 109-77.
Shanghai leads the standings at 24-4, followed by the Zhejiang Lions at 23-5 and Guangdong at 19-9. ■
