BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The first round of the 2026-27 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) League regular season concluded on Sunday, with defending champion Shanghai Sharks cruising past the Shenzhen Aviators 102-68, while the Sichuan Blue Whales defeated the Tianjin Pioneers 97-85 to end the longest losing streak in league history.
The CBA regular season will feature 460 games across 46 rounds, up from 420 last season. The playoffs will return to a 3-5-5-7 format, replacing last season's 3-3-5-7 system.
The most notable structural change this season is the return of promotion and relegation, which was abandoned after the 2003-04 season. The bottom two CBA teams after the regular season will face the top two sides from the National Basketball League (NBL) in home-and-away playoffs in April 2027.
Facing the threat of relegation, Sichuan snapped its 47-game losing streak across two seasons with a 97-85 victory over Tianjin, powered by Jaden Shackelford's game-high 38 points. Sichuan's previous win came on March 16, 2025, and its 47-game skid was the longest losing streak in CBA history.
Blue Whales head coach Simon Petrov said after the game that his team had a bright future, adding that he was very happy with the group as it stands.
"My biggest hope is to help all the players become better players, so they can contribute more to the team, become responsible players and play smart basketball," he said.
Defending champion Shanghai opened its season with a convincing win on Friday despite an inefficient shooting performance from newcomer and former NBA All-Star D'Angelo Russell, who scored 21 points on 7-of-23 shooting. Shanghai center Wang Zhelin added 14 points and 18 rebounds, while forward Zhang Zhenlin contributed 16 points.
Shenzhen was outrebounded 59-35 by Shanghai, while its leading scorer Terquavion Smith struggled from the field, making just five of 22 attempts to finish with 18 points.
Sunday featured two games that went down to the wire. Barry Brown Jr., who finished with 31 points, hit a game-winning three-pointer to lift the Beijing Ducks to an 84-82 victory over the Jilin Northeast Tigers. In another thriller, Xu Jie missed a potential game-winning baseline jumper as the Guangdong Southern Tigers narrowly fell 96-95 to the Nanjing Monkey Kings.
Elsewhere, the Fujian Sturgeons edged the Jiangsu Dragons 89-85, the Beijing Royal Fighters cruised past the Ningbo Rockets 95-71, and the Zhejiang Lions outlasted the Shanxi Loongs 115-109 in double overtime. The Xinjiang Flying Tigers narrowly beat the Qingdao Eagles 82-80, while the Guangzhou Loong Lions defeated the Zhejiang Golden Bulls 90-79 and the Liaoning Flying Leopards overcame the Shandong Heroes 95-84. ■
