Jeremy Lin’s CBA-best 38 guides Ducks to Beijing derby win over Royal Fighters and 11 straight victories

China career high helps Ducks to Beijing derby win over Stephon Marbury’s Royal Fighters and possible third-place finish

Ducks face champions Guangdong Southern Tigers, who on are on CBA-record winning streak of 28 games, in final regular season game

Reading Time:2 minutes

Jeremy Lin of the Beijing Ducks gestures during the win over the between Beijing Royal Fighters. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:02pm, 26 Jul 2020Updated: 1:01pm, 26 Jul 2020

The timing could not be better for the Beijing Ducks to hit top form after winning in their penultimate Chinese Basketball Association regular season game on Friday night.

A Jeremy Lin-inspired 102-86 win over Stephon Marbury’s Royal Fighters in the Beijing derby in Qingdao was the Ducks’ 11th win in a row and secured their path to the second round of the play-offs.

The Ducks (32-13), who are third in the standings, cannot be caught by the Zhejiang Lions (30-15) in fifth and they are guaranteed to finish inside the top four no matter what happens in the final regular season game on Sunday.

The Ducks play the CBA champion Guangdong Southern Tigers (43-2) before waiting to find out who they will face in the second round of the play-offs.

The 2019 champions sit atop the standings and have the only winning streak longer than the Ducks, a CBA-record 28 games. They have not lost since they were beaten by the Royal Fighters on December 15 and have only lost twice all season.