Defending champions Sichuan Blue Whales continue to fight and hold their chance of making it to the final eight and reach the league preseason as they got the better of the sixth-ranked team of the Shenzhen New Century Leopards in the 27th round of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Friday night.

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According to EuroBasket, Iranian big man Hamed Haddadi had a monster game performance for Sichuan's 118-111 triumph over Shenzhen. The former NBA player scored 51 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and an awesome eight blocked shots in solid 44 minutes of playing time.

Haddadi, who was last season's CBA Finals MVP, committed six of the Blue Whales' 13 turnovers but the veteran seven-footer international player went on a 16-28 shooting from the field while going 19-25 from the stripes.

Chinese starting guard Wang Ruheng contributed with 18 points, while 17-year-old guard Huang Rongqi had 15 coming off the bench. Swingman Meng Da finished the game with 14 markers for the Blue Whales, who outrebounded the opposing team with a 45-35 advantage.

The Blue Whales have a field day at the stripe with a 31-41 shooting from the free throw line, while the opposing side only went to the foul line 18 times where the Leopards made 12 points from the free shots awarded to them during the game.

American import Jeremy Pargo paced Shenzhen with 25 points, while Maciej Lampe added with 22 markers and 11 boards. The lost was the Leopards' ninth defeat in 27 matches played this season

According to Asia-Basket, the 14th-ranked team of the Jilin Northeast will be the next game assignment of the Blue Whales in upcoming 27th round.

With the victory, the Blue Whales improved to a better 15-12 and currently tied with the Beijing Ducks for the eighth and ninth place in the team standings and with 11 games left in their regular season. Sichuan remains to hold a chance in making it to the playoffs.

Tagschinese basketball association, Hamed Haddadi, Sichuan Blue Whales, NBA, shenzhen new century leopards