CBA champs defeat Leopards despite Sullinger's 55 points

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‍Despite former Boston Celtics power forward Jared Sullinger getting a game-high 55 points, Shenzhen still had a tough 120-111 lost to defending champion Xinjiang on Friday.

Shenzhen had a good start of 9-2, but Shirelijan Muxtar fired two three-pointers to help the Xinjiang cut the deficit down to 28-27 at the end of the first quarter.

With two three-pointers from Sullinger, Shenzhen extended the lead to double figures, forcing defending champions to call a timeout in the second quarter. But Darius Adams helped the guest team finish the first half 58-57.

Jared Sullinger in action /VCG Photo

Shawn Long, a former Houston Rockets player, put in effort with a CBA career-high 22 points, Adams got fired up in the last quarter as the CBA FMVP had 41 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, helping Xinjiang earn a road victory.

In other matches played on Friday, Stephon Marbury scored 23 points as Beikong took on Qingdao, with a final score of 106-91, and Liaoning received their third consecutive victory after they beat Bayi 109-84.