Former NBA Star Stephon Marbury was recently named as Beijing's Environment Protection Ambassador. (Photo : Reuters)
Stephon Marbury finished with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead the Beijing Ducks in defeating the Liaoning Leopards, 106-98, in Game 6 on Sunday for an overall 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven finals.
Zhai Xiaochuan hit five three-pointers and finished with a game-high 27 points, while Randolph Morris added 19 points for the Ducks.
The series victory allowed the Ducks to defend its Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) championship and win its third title in the past four years.
The 38-year-old Marbury averaged 29.7 points per game in the series and was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in CBA finals.
"Stephon deserves what he had, he is irreplaceable. I hope he can continue to play like this next season," Ducks coach Min Lulei said.
The Leopards raced to an early eight-point lead, but Li Gen scored seven straight points to bring the Ducks back 24-23 in the first quarter. Zhai buried a three-pointer to keep the Ducks ahead 53-50 at the half.
Zhai remained hot after the intermission, hitting three straight three-pointers to give the Ducks a 13-point lead. Then Marbury exploded in the fourth quarter, scoring from inside and out as the Ducks led by as much as 15 points. The Leopards wouldn't recover from that point.
Lester Hudson had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while He Tianju added 21 points with four three-pointers to lead the Leopards. Guo Ailun and Han Dejun contributed 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The Leopards reached the CBA finals five times but never won the crown.
