Champions push Marbury’s team to edge of elimination

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With four games remaining in the 2017-18 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) regular season, the Beikong Fly Dragons had their backs to the wall as they attempted to avoid elimination from playoff contention. But Stephon Marbury’s team came up short in their latest contest on Saturday, losing to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 113-111.

The win for the defending CBA champions made them the seventh team to qualify for the postseason, while the home squad was pushed to the brink of elimination. Marbury and his teammates came into tip-off sitting in 12th place, two games out of the 10th and final playoff spot.

Beikong showed a strong sense of urgency in the opening minutes, as Yu Liang drove in and tied the score at 6-6. The Fly Dragons continued to hang tough as the first quarter wound down, with two of Shavlik Randolph's 19 points putting the hosts up by one.

Stephon Marbury (L) slam-dunks during Saturday's game against the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. /VCG Photo

The Flying Tigers pulled away after the break, as three of Li Gen's 25 points made the margin 15. But Marbury led Beikong back in the next-to-last regular season home game of his career, going coast to coast, and cutting the deficit to nine.

In the fourth quarter, the Fly Dragons stormed back to grab a lead of one, but Li drilled his sixth trey to put the Flying Tigers on top for good. Finals MVP Darius Adams led the titleholders with 39 points and 13 assists, but it was Marbury's night in the capital, even as the hosts are all but eliminated from the playoff hunt.

The 40-year-old, who plans to retire at the end of the season, ended up scoring 19 points, and the fans came to Beijing’s National Olympic Center armed with plenty of banners to show their appreciation for all Marbury has done during his nine seasons in China.