Defending champion Guangdong Hongyuan was on a 12-game winning streak after resisting Jiangsu Dragons' challenge to beat the latter 82-81 in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league on Friday, with just one step away from the regular season title.

Yi Jianlian had a game-high 28 points and 15 boards. Joshua Powell helped with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Neither team could pull away until the start of last period, before Powell's two consecutive shots putting Guangdong 74-64 ahead. Then visitors secured the victory through solid defense, leaving the opponents scoreless in several minutes.

Hu Xuefeng led Jiangsu players with 20 points. Marcus Haislip and Jackson Vroman contributed 15 and 13 respectively.

Last season's runner-up Shandong Gold, currently ranked 9th, also got a hard-won game at 86-85 over 10th-ranked Fujian SBS, in a playoffs berth head-to-head contest.

Shandong was scoreless in the first four minutes, but made a strong comeback thanks to Dingyan Yuhang and Li Jingyu's several shots beyond the arc. After tying at 12-all, the two teams traded the advantage many times throughout the game to last minute.

Wang Zhelin's 1 of 2 free-throws gave Fujian a two-point lead, but that was offset by Tao Hanlin's three-point play with 24.6 seconds remaining. Fujian missed the buzzer-beater to suffer four-game skid.

Four Shandong players had double-digit points. Pooh Jeter finished with 21 points. Donnell Harvey and Li Jingyu added 17 apiece.

After ejection in his debut from a knee injury on Wednesday, Stephon Marbury got his momentum back with 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. However, the former NBA star's shining performance still could not save Beijing Ducks from a 103-97 loss to Zhejiang Chouzhou.

In Friday's other games, Foshan Long Lions lost to Shanxi Fenjiu 110-104, Xinjiang Guanghui beat Liaoning Hengye 95-88, Sichuan Jinqiang lost to Tianjin Ronggang 113-106 through overtime, Zhejiang Guangsha took an overtime victory over Bayi Fubang 117-111, Jilin Northeast Tigers upset Shanghai Sharks 102-98, and Dongguan Marco Polo secured the fourth playoffs ticket after defeating bottom team Qingdao Doublestars 111-101.

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