In their home game of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), the Shenzhen Aviators notched up a thrilling 98-95 victory over the Sichuan Whales on Thursday. The visitors came in the 17th place with only two wins this season, and were missing Thomas Robinson who was suspended for kicking a courtside advertisement in their last game on Sunday.

Nonetheless, Sichuan put up a good fight, only to be disappointed by a moment of magic from Shenzhen's He Xining. Courtney Fortson gave Sichuan their first points with a three after Shenzhen started with a 7-0 run. The American then finished a fast break by going off the glass, but the Blue Whales were trailing 12-5.

Jarell Martin made his debut for Shenzhen with five minutes left in the first quarter, and got his first basket in the CBA with a dunk making it 25-9 for the Aviators.

Dwight Buycks then lobbed to Shen Zijie for the alley-oop with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Shen had a team-high 23 points, but none better than that crucial one. With a minute and a half to go, Li Yuanyu tied it at 93 for Sichuan and subsequently, Guo Zhihan's long jumper tied it at 95 with 18 seconds left.

With only seven seconds on the clock, Fortson drove in but missed. He, however, got the rebound and launched the ball from his own free throw line, clinching the key point and the game as well.

After his side won the cliffhanger contest, Shenzhen Aviators coach Wang Jianjun said, "I think our team played pretty well on defense in the first half, but did not do so well on offence during the whole game. In the second half, we lost the advantage on defense, which gave Sichuan a chance to catch up. So, I can only say we were lucky to get this win."

Meanwhile, the Guangdong Southern Tigers crushed the Bayi Rockets 116 – 97 to register their ninth straight win. Earlier, the Bayi Rockets' Lei Meng made back-to-back three pointers to give the visitors a 15-10 lead on the Guangdong Southern Tigers. But the defending champions soon moved ahead with Sonny Weems hitting a fade away jumper.

Then the American scored again to make it 26-25 before going into the second quarter.

Marshon Brooks picked off a pass and took it back the other way to finish with a jumper as Guangdong extended their lead by five. Early in the third quarter, Yi Jianlian drained a triple to make it a 15-point game. The three-time CBA Finals MVP eventually hit from the key on his way to a game-high 25 points. Meanwhile, Liu Quanbiao fed Weems, who took it in for a big dunk and Guangdong went on to return triumphant once again.