BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Dominique Jones starred with a triple-double in Jilin Northeast Tigers' 104-93 home win over Qingdao Eagles, while Shandong Heroes overcame an 18-point deficit in the third quarter to beat bottom sides Bayi Rockets 94-82 in the 24th round of Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Thursday.
Jones, the league's leading scorer, posted 42 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists. Jiang Weize scored 24 points.
Jilin rode on a 7-0 spurt to lead 17-10 midway through the first quarter, but Qingdao bounced back to end the quarter on the scoreline of 25-all.
Zhang Chengyu buried two consecutive 3-points in an 8-1 run as Qingdao extended their margin over 10 points before establishing a 60-52 halftime lead.
Spearheaded by Jones, Jilin showed resilience from there. Qingdao's guard Darius Adams, who had been named CBA's Player of the Month earlier in the day, was fouled out with 5:32 left in the third quarter. Their coach Wu Qinglong was also called a technical foul for showing discontent towards match referee.
Qingdao was pretty impacted by their playmaker's earlier departure and trailed at 81-85 into the fourth, and never mounted comeback afterwards.
Adams finished 28 points. Dakari Johnson nailed a double-double of 25 points and 12 boards. Zhang and Zhao Dapeng scored 14 and 12 respectively.
Bayi are restrained to bottom of the table with only two wins into the campaign, while stunning the visiting Shandong side in the first half.
Arslan earned Bayi a 51-36 margin into halftime with four 3s. Then Shandong's Lester Hudson decided to make his own response.
The veteran guard scored 20 of his 31 points in the third quarter, powering Shandong to overturn the deficit and lead 66-65 at the horn. Bayi failed to mount further challenge, and Shandong snatched their 12th win in the past 13 matches.
Shandong's center Tao Hanlin contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds. Chen Peidong bagged 14 points.
"We didn't defend quite well at the start," admitted Shandong's coach Gong Xiaobin. "Then we regrouped in the second half and took away the game."
Without injured Zhou Qi or Abdusalam Abdurexit, second-ranked Xinjiang Flying Tigers exhibited balanced attack as five players scored at least 20 points in a 120-111 victory over Sichuan Blue Whale at home.
Elsewhere, Beijing Ducks led from the tip-off to thrash Tianjin Pioneers 115-82, Shanxi Loongs got past Guangzhou Loong Lions 124-114, and Fujian Sturgeons defeated Zhejiang Lions 120-113.
