Yao Ming, president of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), led the league players to pay tribute to COVID-19 medical staff ahead of the CBA game in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, on Friday.

Yao Ming also presented two honorary jerseys to renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan and his wife Li Shaofen during the ceremony prior to the game as Guangdong Southern Tigers defeated Jiangsu Dragons 129-81.

Also in Dongguan on Friday, Jiang Yuxing scored a game-high 23 points and five rebounds, helping the Jilin Northeast Tigers beat the Shandong Heroes 91-80.

With the win, Jilin ended their four-game losing streak, while Shandong suffered its second straight loss.

Jilin coach Wang Han said that he was very happy with the rebounds. "We won the game because of our defense-driven fast breaks," Wang said.

In the another CBA section in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, the Beijing Ducks smashed the Bayi Rockets 95-75 to extend their winning streak to four games in the league on Friday.

Jeremy Lin finished with 20 points and eight assists, while Ekpe Udoh had 16 points and four blocks for Beijing. Fang Shuo of Beijing came off the bench for 17 points and six assists.

Beijing led from start to finish against the bottom-side Bayi, who had just defeated the Xinjiang Flying Tigers to record their first victory since the CBA resumed on June 30.

With Lin hitting a jumper at the buzzer, Beijing went on a 12-4 run to lead 75-60 heading into the last quarter, and Bayi never managed to cut the deficit.

Bayi's Zou Yuchen and Fu Hao scored 16 and 15 points respectively.

(With input from Xinhua)