ZHUJI - With ten victories among 14 games against the Beijing Royal Fighters, the Beijing Ducks made a good start of 93-83 in the first game of the third phase of this regular season against their arc-rivals in the CBA on Tuesday.

Tuesday's game between the two Beijing clubs has been more eye-catching. They found former Bayi players as their supplements, with the Ducks signing Lei Meng, and the Royal Fighters recruiting Zou Yuchen.

With Yannis Christopoulos returning as the head coach this season, the following three quarters saw fierce counter attacks from the Ducks, who staged a comeback with stong defense

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Despite Lei, the Royal Fighters took a 20-17 lead over the Duck in the first quarter, thanks to a two-pointer by Li Gen, one of the three players formerly fought for its city rivals.

With Yannis Christopoulos returning as the head coach this season, the following three quarters saw fierce counter attacks from the Ducks, who staged a comeback with stong defense.

"We played a tough and defensive basketball, and we stayed connected across the whole game. The guys they deserve a lot of credits because they combat hard every singal moment," said Yannis.

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Averaging 24.5 points and 5.2 rebounds last season, Ducks veteran Jonathan Gibson scored a game-high 23 points and three rebounds, with Lei adding 17 points and six rebounds in his debut show.

Joseph Young logging an average of 24.5 points and 6.4 assists last season, contributed a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds to pace the Royal Fighters, while Sun Tonglin also scored 17 points and six rebounds for his team.

"I'd rather respect our opponents who have been highly concentrated all the time despite some mistakes or disadvantages. We should focus on defense in the following games and we need more time to adapt to each other, with new teammates like Ekpe Udoh joined in, " said Sun.