China rain shower of threes on Japan for back-to-back wins in Sendai

SENDAI (Japan) - China’s shift to outside shooting proved to be effective as they collect their second win over Japan in less than 48 hours, 106-73.

Despite the similar outcome, there was a big difference in how China claimed their victory in this second game. After going 5-17 from the three-point line in Saturday’s clash, China torched Japan’s defense with 14-24 three-point shooting in this game.

China’s long range firing squad was led by Zhao Rui (27 points, 6 three-pointers), Zhang Zhenlin (17 points, 3 three-pointers), and Xu Jie (13 points, 3 three-pointers) who all played a part in expanding the lead for the team throughout the entire game.

Xu Jie (CHN)

Coach Du Feng emphasized his team’s lack of focus and concentration in the previous game and the players made sure to put that on notice. Even as the lead ballooned to as much as 41 points, China continued to play hard on both ends of the floor to the final buzzer.

Japan struggled to get their offense going once again, but nonetheless showed the fighting spirit of not backing down throughout all 40 minutes.

The guards coming off the bench providing spark for Japan with Ryo Terashima scoring 15 points and Yudai Nishida pitching in 10 points.

China now stand at the top of the standings in Group B of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers with a 2-0 record while Japan sit at the bottom at 0-2. They will now wait for the next Window in February 2022.

FIBA