Xinjiang and visitors Liaoning put on a back-and-forth thriller before the home team pulled out a 124-119 victory in the 11th round of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league on Tuesday.
With national team players Guo Ailun and Li Xiaoxu on the bench, the injury-plagued defending champions Liaoning still managed to remain competitive throughout.
The first quarter saw a dozen of 3-pointers from both sides, including a buzzer beater from Yan Shouqi. After Liaoning came back with a 6-0 run, Xinjiang scored three consecutive 3-pointers to force the visitors to call for a timeout.
Both teams fought tit for tat and Xinjiang took a 69-68 advantage at half break, which didn't widen further until the fourth quarter when the home players stage a 15-4 run for the double-digit lead for the first time.
Thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds, Darius Adams hit his sixth 3-pointer, giving Xinjiang a 122-114 lead with 49 seconds left.
Liaoning had their last hope dimmed when Han Dejun missed his free throws before Xinjiang celebrated their seventh straight win at home.
Elsewhere, Shanghai lost to Shandong 96-99, with Liu Wei becoming the third CBA player to reach 10,000 points.
Beijing cruised to an 89-73 victory over Tongxi, Guangzhou beat Bayi 105-92, Fujian overcame Beikong 140-131 and Shenzhen defeated Jiangsu 118-102.
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