Current league leaders Liaoning Flying Leopards extended their winning streak to 15 games after pulling off a dominating 109-93 victory over the Shenzhen Leopards in Round 36 of the 2015-2016 Chinese Basketball Association season in a match held at the Benxi Gymnasium on Sunday, Jan. 31.
The win improved Liaoning's win-loss record to 29-7, as they overtook erstwhile league-leaders Xinjiang Flying Tigers with 65 points on top of the current league table. The Flying Tigers are now at the second spot with 64 points and a 28-8 slate.
Xinhuanet noted that because there are two more remaining rounds before the current CBA regular season concludes, the Flying Leopards just needs to win one more game to ensure that they hold the top position entering the Chinese postseason.
Shenzhen started the game strong as the visitors went ahead with hot shooting in the opening quarter, 28-23, according to Sofa Score.
The hosts fought back in the second period with a 36-22 run as the duo of American Shavlik Randolph and local guard Guo Ailun buried four three-point shots in the quarter. The Flying Leopards took over to build a nine-point lead at the half, 59-50.
The third period was all Liaoning as the hosts limited their visitors to only 17 points in the quarter, 29-17, to enter the fourth canto comfortably ahead by 21 points, 88-67.
The Leopards managed to trim the gap a little in the payoff period with a 26-21 quarter, but they ran out of time on the way to the 16-point blowout loss.
Randolph, a former undrafted NBA player who last suited up for the Boston Celtics in the world's premiere basketball league, came off the bench to lead the Flying Leopards with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and an assist in almost 28 minutes of play.
The 32-year-old former CBA scoring champion shot 7-of-11 from two-point range for a remarkable 63.6 percent shooting while he went 4-of-6 from downtown for also an impressive 66.7 percent clip. Randolph also shot 2-of-3 free throws en route to his game-high scoring output.
Liaoning's other import, Lester Hudson, who is also a former NBA player who last played for the Los Angeles Clippers, backed up Randolph with 27 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Shenzhen was led by American Bobby Brown, whose last NBA stint was also with the Clippers, firing 28 points, grabbing seven boards, and dishing out 10 assists in a losing effort.