Streak-stopping Ducks cool off Golden Bulls

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Beijing Ducks and Zhejiang Golden Bulls both underwent makeovers last summer, swapping out their imports and shaking up their domestic rosters for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season.

Those moves turned the teams into wild cards but they now find themselves in the playoff hunt, and for the Ducks that's because Wukesong remains one of the CBA's toughest road venues.

Very few analysts predicted that the Ducks and Golden Bulls would be considered potential title contenders after the first six or so weeks of the campaign, but that's where they stand in early December, and in the case of the Capital Crew, it no longer seems to matter who they're facing –especially at home.

Beijing Ducks' Aaron Jackson has been a key player for his team. /VCG Photo

While it sounds counterintuitive, coming into Wukesong with a four-game winning streak has not been working out well for visiting teams in the early stages of the season.

And after ending successful runs by the Shanghai Sharks and Fujian Sturgeons, the Beijing Ducks came out of the international break looking to turn a spree stopping hat-trick against the Golden Bulls. Their odds of success were anybody's guess as two of the league's most surprising squads tried to hand each other a capital clobbering.

Zhejiang came into tip-off looking like a unit poised to claim its fifth consecutive victory, but that aim would prove elusive for the Golden Bulls as Aaron Jackson and Justin Hamilton have started connecting like a duo that's been playing together for ages, rather than just a couple of months.

"As we spend more time together, the chemistry is getting there, said Justin Hamilton, Beijing Duck defender. "Even with other guys on our team, they are functioning well and understand when there is an advantage. I just give them an eye and we can run different plays.”

"When we play together, I think communication has a lot to do with it. We love playing basketball. We love to get a better shot. We are doing a great job as you can see right now,” added Aaron Jackson.

So with Beijing's international combination clicking like a fine-tuned machine and the rest of the roster feeding off that synergy, Zhejiang will likely soon see a need to go back to the drawing board.

The mascot of the Beijing Ducks /Xinhua Photo

“Beijing play a very good team ball. They killed us in the pick and roll. It was painful to be a part of and that’s something we need to fix as a team,” said Golden Bulls forward Jarnell Stokes.

The Ducks 113-104 win over the Golden Bulls gives them three straight victories. That means the streak stoppers are about to turn into top targets, starting with Sunday's road contest versus the Jilin Northeast Tigers.

(Top image credit to VCG.)