BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Royal Fighters held off the Jiangsu Dragons 93-82 at home on Friday, handing Jiangsu a third consecutive defeat to open the 2026-27 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season, while the Liaoning Flying Leopards stayed unbeaten with a home win over the Sichuan Blue Whales.
Beijing, leading by 11 after the first quarter and 15 at halftime, saw Jiangsu battle back with a 12-2 run after the break to trail by just one point heading into the fourth. After the two sides were tied on multiple occasions in a hard-fought final period, the Royal Fighters broke away with a decisive 13-0 run that ended Jiangsu's comeback bid.
Liao Sanning collected 17 points and six assists for Beijing. Grant Riller led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds, Zhao Jiayi added 15 points and seven rebounds. Zeng Fanri earned 16 for Jiangsu.
"We played well in the first half, and at halftime the coach reminded us not to let up. Even so, we still relaxed at certain stretches. No team in a game ever gives up easily. That's a lesson we have to learn from, and we can't afford to make the same mistake again," said Zhao after the game.
In Friday's other action, Sharife Cooper tallied 40 points, 17 assists and five rebounds as Liaoning beat Sichuan 104-93 for their third straight victory.
Daishen Nix posted 27 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, and He Siyu scored 20 while going 6-of-6 from three-point range as the Tianjin Pioneers downed the Guangzhou Loong Lions 102-86 for their first win of the season, dealing Guangzhou its first loss after two straight victories.
Also on Friday, Wang Lanqin scored a game-high 27 points as the Shandong Heroes rallied past the Nanjing Monkey Kings 106-97 on the road for their first win of the season. It was tied 48-48 at halftime before Shandong pulled away in the third quarter, holding Nanjing under 20 points in the period to build a double-digit lead. Guo Haowen had 24 points for Nanjing, which suffered a second consecutive defeat.
Gabriel York's game-high 28 points went in vain as the Zhejiang Golden Bulls edged the Qingdao Eagles 88-80 at home, with Christian Vital, Wang Zilu and Cheng Shuaipeng each scoring 16 points. Wang Yibo had 15 points and 10 assists for Qingdao, which remained winless after three games. ■
