The league's powerhouse team Xinjiang Flying Tigers got the better of the Beijing Ducks in the opening round of the 22^nd season of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Sunday evening.

Xinjiang, which ended the last season with a third-place finish, routed the Beijing Ducks with a dominant 110-92 win to kick off the new season in a high note.

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According to Xinhua, foreign basketball reinforcement Andray Blatche poured in 31 big points and pulled down 14 huge rebounds to go along with six assists to lead the Flying Tigers to its first victory of the 2016-2017 season win.

NBA recruit Zhou Qi chipped in with 12 points for the newly-crowned 2016 FIBA Asia Champions Cup winning team, who will be facing the Beikong Fly Dragons on Wednesday. Beikong lost their opening game against the CBA defending champions Sichuan Blue Whales, 110-89.

"Defense is the key of our victory tonight, and our players had better status than Beijing," Xinjiang head coach Li Qiuping said after the game.

Basing from the game results in the SofaScore site, the Flying Tigers entered the second quarter with a nine-point lead 24-15.

Blatche, who played for the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards in the NBA, scored 17 points in the second period that helped the 1999-founded basketball club established an 18-point advantage in the first half of the game, 58-40.

During the third quarter, Beikong took on a 31-29 run but with a huge deficit, Xinjiang remained on control with still a double-digit lead on hand, 87-71, going in to the final twelve minutes of the game. The winning team kept their lead in final quarter of the match and staged a 23-21 run to seal the victory.

Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury paced the Ducks, who will be playing Qingdao Eagles in the second round, with 27 points.

Tagschinese basketball association, andray blatche, Stephon Marbury, NBA, fiba asia championship cup