In a battle of teams ranked second and third, Xinjiang Flying Tigers edged host Beijing Ducks 88 to 87 away in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Wednesday. As last season's league runners-up, Xinjiang looked to go one step further this term, especially with Zhou Qi back after spending a year-and-a-half in the NBA.

With the Beijing Ducks meeting Xinjiang on Christmas Day, Zhou Qi was back in a city where many fans heavily criticized his performance from China's early elimination in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. But the his teammates said he was now fully focused on helping the Flying Tigers to claim a second CBA title.

Kay Felder, the Xinjiang Flying Tigers Guard, said, "I think he (Zhou)'s handled it perfect, honestly, you know he doesn't fall into it and things like that. He stays poised throughout everything no matter where we're at and he's handling it good."

Meanwhile, Xinjiang Flying Tigers Forward Eric Mika mentioned, "He (Zhou)'s incredibly skilled. He's really, really big, which helps our defense, just kind of funneling all the guards, and any mistake we made, being able to send them to the middle, and let him kind of clean things up and block and rebound as well as he does."

Disaster strikes for Xinjiang just a minute and a half into this contest, when last season's Most Improved Player, Abudushalamu Abudurexiti , goes down with a knee injury, and had to be stretchered off the court. His early exit left the Flying Tigers depending even more on Zhou's presence inside.

Compared with last season's up-and-down run to the CBA Finals, the current campaign has been a lot smoother for Xinjiang, one of the biggest reasons being the return of Zhou Qi, but if Abudushalam's injury sidelineed him for any significant amount of time, things could get a lot tougher for the Flying Tigers.

Beijing would counter Zhou by turning to Ekpe Udoh, and the Nigerian paced the Ducks with 27 points and 12 rebounds, to compliment Jeremy Lin's 21 points and five assists. But the hosts found themselves trailing by nine, when Kyranbek Makhan drilled a three with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, a reminder that the returning runners-up were more than a one-man show.

Beijing Ducks Coach Yannis Christopoulos said, "It is a fact that Zhou Qi is a very good player. I think he gives them the length, the aggressiveness, and the quality that they didn't have in the previous seasons. We tried to change multiple guys on him. I think again, like I explained analyzing the facts, we ran out of bodies at the end."

Ekpe Udoh, the center of Beijing Ducks emphasized, "If you look at his(Zhou’s) points, it wasn't necessarily like trying to slow him down, I just think it's the way they play their offense, with Kay Felder and his speed getting everybody mixed up, so I wouldn't say it was just against him."

The Ducks storm back and trimmed the margin to one on Zhai Xiaochuan's triple with seven seconds remaining. Then it looked like Zhou was about to go from hero to zero, when he missed two free throws on the other end. But the home squad couldn't come up with more magic before the buzzer, as the Flying Tigers rpde 23 points and 13 rebounds from the man in the middle, to eke out a fourth straight win, 88-87, cementing their grip on second place while dropping Beijing Ducks to fourth.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Dwight Buycks posted 34 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Shenzhen, while Li Muhao added 21 points and 11 rebounds. Miroslav Raduljica scored a game-high 40 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the losing side.

Shenzhen got the upper hand all the way throughout the game as they boosted a 15-0 spurt in the opening quarter. With nine minutes remaining, Jiangsu cut the deficit to 91-90, before the hosts held out the challenge to seal the 109-102 victory thanks to Buycks.

"I feel proud of my players," Shenzhen coach Wang Jianjun said. "They spared no efforts to fight for rebounds and they deserved the victory."

In addition, Zhejiang Golden Bulls secured their three straight win at home by beating Guangzhou Loong Lions 119-107. Darius Adams pocketed 50 points for Qingdao Eagles to win over Jilin Northeast Tigers 118-108 on the road.

(With input from Xinhua News Agency)