JAKARTA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- NBA Houston Rockets center Zhou Qi scored 25 points as powerhouse Chinese men's basketball team edged the Philippines 82-80 at 2018 Asian Games here on Tuesday.
"Jordan Clarkson is really powerful. He brought a lot of trouble to us. But from the other side, it's a good opportunity for our youngsters to get better by playing against such a good NBA player," said China's head coach Li Nan.
Jordan Clarkson, the Cleveland Cavaliers guard, delivered 28 points off 5 3-pointers to go with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals but still failed to help team win the game. Christian Karl Standhardinger contributed 18 points and 8 rebounds, Stanley Pringle added 14 points.
Besides Zhou Qi's 25 points, Wang Zhelin chipped in 13 points and Abudushalamu added 12 for China.
"We had a chance to win the game with the last shot but those are the breaks of the game. The effort is really good and I give credit to the boys," Philippine team head coach Yeng Guiao said.
The Philippines took an early lead 5-0 on a three-pointer by Poy Erram and a floater by Clarkson before Zhou Qi burying three 3-pointers as China surged a 14-2 run to expand the lead to 8 on 20-12 in the first quarter.
But Clarkson showed his NBA-level power in the third period as he drilled in 3 straight 3-pointers to knot the score at 55-all. China scored six straight in the fourth to again built a double digit at 72-62 with 6:20, but the Philippines wouldn't walk away quietly, as Standhardinger made two free throws and Pringle buried a layup to lead the Philippines to surpass the score at 78-75.
Zhao Rui, who had 11 points, made a steal down the stretch from Pringle and helped China tie the game on 80-all by his fast break layup with 46 seconds left. Then Zhao drew fouls from Clarkson and made both free throws to help China seal the victory.
