FUZHOU, Jan 2 -- Ranked only 15th in the league and without star player Wang zhelin, Fujian claimed a surprising victory over Shangdong 115-104 in the 23rd round of 2017-2018 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league on Tuesday.
Suffering from the loss in overtime to Tongxi in the last game, Fujian had conceded 4 straight losses in previous rounds and continued to play without injured Wang who averaged in 18.2 points and 9.7 rebounds this season.
Fourth ranked Shangdong, with a record of 16 wins against 6 losses before Tuesday's game, grabbed the win after overtime in last match against Beijing.
The home team players Zhao Tailong, Russ Smith and Mike Harris combined for 81 points. Russ earned the game high 33 points and 13 assists. Harris and Sun Zhe, substitute for Wang as the big center, each contributed 14 boards.
Former NBA Rockets player Donatas Motiejunas of the visiting team took double-double of 33 points and 11 rebounds. The Chinese rising star Ding Yanyuhang only scored 15 points by missing all the 9 three-pointers and making only 5 two-point shots out of 13 attempts.
Aleksandar Kesar, head coach of Shandong, told Xinhua that his team only made nine 3-pointers out of 30 attempts but Fujian finished with 24.
"Fujian is not a weak team and they had ever defeated Xinjiang this season," said Kesar, "I told my team to be well prepared but we did not make a good start. Things went different in the last quarter but it's too late to turn the game."
Kesar added that last time Fujian defeated Shangdong was about 3 years ago when he coached Fujian. "Ding miss too many shots from outside and most of them are good chances."
Fan Bin, head coach of Fujian, believed his plan was perfectly executed. "We made the plan on defense and we took control both in paints and backcourt. It's good to grab the first win over such strong opponents in the new year."