Zhejiang 103, Tianjin 91: Jr Smith didn’t play until the midway point of the second quarter, end even then he may as well have been sitting on the bench… until the fourth quarter, that is. I’m not sure why JR was held out of the starting lineup and kept on the pine for so long. I haven’t heard about any more troubles between he and his team, so I’m going to assume it’s because they were playing a garbage team and held a double-digit lead for pretty much the entire time he was sitting. Anyway, once JR entered the game he looked disinterested. It’s the first time I’ve ever watched him play where he didn’t even appear to want to shoot the ball. At about the same time Tianjin closed to within one point (about six minutes to go), one of their gaurds made a key mitake: he awoke the sleeping monster. As Tianjin was capping off their biggest run of the game, JR Smith’s defender decided it would be a good idea to clap in his face as he dribbled up the floor. Smith proceeded to bury a three and connect on a layup on the possession after that. It was taken from a one-point to a six-point game, and then JR continued to pile on the points until Zhejiang had it out of reach. That was that.
Smith finished with 33 points on just 15 shots. Almost all of those points came in the second half, and probably at least half of them in the fourth quarter. Josh Boone had a healthy double-double consisting of 22 points and 18 boards. He carried the load early when JR was sitting/sleep walking. The box score says David Harrison had 23/10, but the only thing I saw him do was a front flip over a shooter after biting worse than Al Jefferson’s girlfriend on a pump fake. Zhejiang improves to 6-2 while Tianjin remains tied with Qindago for worst in the league at 2-8.
Xinjiang 102, Foshan 96: Cutting Gerald Green hasn’t worked out too well for Foshan; they still lose every round. The Dralions drop to 3-6; Patty Mills hung 29/5 on ‘em. Kenyon Martin added 16/9, and Mangke Bateer recorded 22/16. Marcus Haislip scored 20 for Foshan on 9-12 shooting.
Fujian 95, Shanghai 93: Former D-Leaguer Ryan Kelly’s game-high 31 points were not quite enough to earn the Shanghai Sharks a much-needed victory. Instead they fall to 2-7 with a game against the powerful Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the near future. Will McDonald led Fujian with 24. Anthony Roberson scored 4 points on 0-6 and spent much of the game riding the pine. Shark Fin Hoops will probably have a more detailed recap of this game up shortly… I hear it had a rather dramatic finish.
Shanxi 106, Shandong 96: Shandong still hasn’t won a game since starting their season 0-3. I’m actually getting tired of repeating that sh!t, so please, Shandong, win a game! Marcus Williams made his way to the stripe 17 times as he scored a game-high 33 points. Charles Gaines was routinely beasty with 24 and 12. For Shandong, Alan Anderson went 1-10 on three-pointers and Othello Hunter posted a double-double–another sentence I’m tired of typing.
Bayi 100, Qindago 95: Lester Hudson followed up his 58-point, 27-three-point-attempt performance by hoisting another 23 triples (and 15 twos). This time he only made six of his threes, resulting in a mere 33 points. He was double and even triple teamed often, yet still found ways to get his looks. Qindago is a terrible basketball team.
Dongguan 101, Guangsha 94: After falling behind by 20+ in the first freaking quarter I saw Wilson Chandler and friends get as close as three in the fourth… too little too late, though, as Dongguan wins their sixth in a row. Can’t attribute this W to sh!tty competition, either. They’ve got one hell of a streak going at the moment. Josh Akognon went 6-21 from three as he scored his team-high 28 points. Ramos dropped a game-high 31 for Guangsha as Chandler led the contest with 15 boards (also dropped 27).
Guangdong 101, Jilin 95: Cartier Martin hung a game-high 29 on the Tigers, but that wasn’t enough to overcome their well-balanced attack. Led by Aaron Brooks and his 26 points, five Guangdong players scored 8 or more. They remain in second place at 8-2.
Beijing 109, Jiangsu 98: Dan Gadzuric is injured and Marcus “laptops” Williams had a lackluster game, so it’s certainly no surprise that Beijing was able to remain undefeated. Stephon Marbury and Randolph Morris each posted 20/10s.
