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BEIJING –Sure, Stephon Marbury hit a bit of a rough patch on Wednesday night.
It consisted of two missed shots, and it came just after he scored his 48th point of the night.
Marbury and the Beijing Ducks jumped out to an early lead at Shougang Gymnasium and never let up, burying the Shanxi Dragons 132-121 to even the teams' CBA playoff series at one game apiece.
How good was the Ducks' night?
Consider this. Marbury scored 25 points in an utterly dominant first quarter before heading to the bench for his mandatory break with a 40-30 lead.
By the time he returned to full-time duty in the second half, his teammates had grown that lead to 15.
Marbury – excluded from MVP consideration because he's a foreign player - finished the night with 52 points, 10 assists and 7 steals.
Randolph Morris chipped in with 27 points and 10 rebounds and ZhaiXiaochuan had 17 points and 6 rebounds.
The Dragons were led by Marcus Williams' somehow quiet 45 points and 6 rebounds, while Charles Gaines had 31 points and 16 rebounds.
Shanxi seemed snake-bitten from the outset. First, Zhang Xuewenblindly collided with a referee with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter, turning the ball over in the process. Five minute later, teammate DuanJiangpeng's 3-point attempt jammed itself between the rim and backboard, which was closely followed by another turnover.
The series resumes on Friday night at 7:30 pm in Beijing.
