HANGZHOU, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Zhejiang Lions smashed the Fujian Sturgeons 105-83, while the Beijing Royal Fighters cruised past the Shenzhen Aviators 101-81 in the fourth round of the 2022-2023 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) here on Monday.

Fujian's Chen Linjian scored the first point after the tip-off and then nailed a 3-pointer to take the lead, but last season's runner-up Zhejiang managed to hold on the score by pouring 3-pointers and established a 31-19 lead to finish the first quarter.

Fujian made an 8-0 run thanks to Li Jianghuai's corner 3-pointer at the beginning of the second quarter, while Zhejiang dismissed the opponent's offense by making multiple layups. Sun Minghui's coast-to-coast buzzer beater helped Zhejiang gain a nine-point lead to wrap up the first half.

Coming back from the lockers, Zhejiang's new signing Kyle Wiltjer took control of the third quarter to widen their advantage. Wiltjer kept his dominance and Zhao Jiaren continued hitting 3-pointers to seal the win.

"I'm so happy to be part of the team with a lot of good players. I'm so excited to be here and the CBA league is one of the best ones," said Wiltjer after his season debut for Zhejiang.

Wiltjer scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed five rebounds for Zhejiang, Zhao Jiaren and Xu Ke added 21 and 20 points respectively. Fujian's Thon Maker took a team-high 22 points, while Li Yiyang contributed 17 and dished seven assists.

Another game on Monday witnessed Beijing Royal Fighters rout Shenzhen Aviators 101-81.

Royal Fighters stunned Shenzhen 31-16 in the first quarter and set up a 54-40 lead until the half-time buzzer.

Zhang Fan stepped out for the Royal Fighters in the third quarter as he took seven points successively, restraining Shenzhen's comeback. The Royal Fighters didn't leave any chance for Shenzhen in the last quarter, maintaining the double-digit lead to the end.

"It's a tough game, our guys were very tired just like the other teams. But we pushed through it at the end of the game," said Royal Fighters' head coach Stephon Marbury.

The Royal Fighters' Zhang Fan pocketed a game-high 26 points in his 41 minutes on court, and Yu Changdong had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. On Shenzhen's side, He Xining and Sun Haoqin led the box score with 13 points apiece, while Askia Booker added 12. Enditem

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