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BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Without key player and former NBA star Yi Jianlian, Chinese national basketball team lost to Nigeria 71-79 in its opener of 2016 Stankovic Cup here on Tuesday.
China's all-star guard Guo Ailun collected a game-high 19 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, his club teammate Zhao Jiwei contributed 10 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. But the highly-expected Zhou Qi, who was picked as No.43 by Houston Rockets in this year's NBA draft didn't perform up to his level, scoring only 4 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.
China only trailed by 3 points after the first half, but the absence of key player Yi Jianlian made the team suffer a lot in defence and finally lost to the Nigeria 71-79.
"The opening of the game was not good, we didn't play as a team in offence and there are too much individual play," said Gong Luming, the coach of Chinese team.
In another game, France got a good start as they beat Argentina 64-57.
In the next round, Nigeria will take on Argentina while China is going to play France on Wednesday.
