Liaoning crush Beikong for 17th win in a row

World
Europe

00:50

In the ongoing Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season, defending champions Liaoning Flying Leopards steamrolled the Beikong Fly Dragons 119-87 to extend their unbeaten streak to 17 consecutive games at Beijing's Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium on Friday night.

Stakes were high when Liaoning visited the shorthanded Beikong with the hopes of extending their unbeaten streak for a team record.

In the first quarter, Beikong's Thomas Robinson followed his own miss and cut the deficit to four, en route to 24 points.

But Liaoning continued to pull away as Guo Ailun gave it to He Tianju for an easy three-pointer from the wing.

Hudson took over in the second as last year's Finals MVP put the Flying Leopards up by 13. His triple shortly after half-time extended Liaoning's lead to 15.

Lester Hudson of Liaoning Flying Leopards in action during Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) League match against Beikong Fly Dragons in Beijing. /VCG Photo

Later in the third, Hudson got the hoop on his way to a game-high 30 points.

Led by Thomas Robinson and Xu Mengjun, the Fly Dragons tried to battle back in the fourth, but Li Xiaoxu's jumper stalled their momentum, and the Flying Leopards cruised to their 17th consecutive win by the lopsided score.

Liaoning's rout kept the defending champions one game off the pace in the CBA standings. The Flying Leopards' balanced effort, led by Hudson and Ailun, showed how the titleholders continued to share the load on offense during their winning streak.

Liaoning's invincible run, which started nearly two months ago, has the defending champions tied with earlier editions of themselves and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers for the fifth-longest streak in CBA history. Whether the team relies on the sharpshooting of Lester Hudson and Guo Ailun, or the raw power of Brandon Bass and Han Dejun, coach Guo Shiqiang has been pushing all the right buttons this winter.

Guard Hudson said after the match that, “Coach told us to get focused, don't get settled, because even if they have one foreigner they can beat us. So we just got focused, and got together, and pulled away a little bit.”

Meanwhile, Flying Leopards forward Brandon Bass mentioned, “It's a bunch of little small things we've gotta do, but we'll get there, 17 wins in a row, you know, that's a big accomplishment. We just want to keep it going.”

Liaoning will be looking to make it 18 straight when they return to the court later this weekend.