|
DALIAN, China, June 13-- Team Red of Chinese Men's basketball team suffered a blow in their first warm-up match of 2017 as they lost to Iran 63-60 here on Tuesday. According to the plan of Yao Ming, the newly elected CBA president, there will be two national teams under the entirely new system and each one led by one coach. The two teams will play in different international competitions before they merge into one in 2019 to prepare for the 2019 World Cup in China and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Team Red, led by Li Nan, played their first friendly of the summer against their Asian Rival Iran. The Iranian outscored the host 16-8 in the second quarter to build a nine-point lead by halftime. They led as many as 14 in the third period and headed into the final quarter with 10. Chang Lin boosted for China in that quarter. He scored 10 of China's 22 in that quarter and finished with a team-high 13 points. Abdusalam also scored 13 while Zhaor Rui scored all his eight points in the fourth quarter, which helped China to tie the score at 58-58 with one minute and 38 seconds to the end of the match. But Zhao Jiwei's buzzer-beater three-pointer attempt just went short and he failed to force an overtime. He finished with only five points. Saijad Mashayekhi led Iran with a match-high 17 while Behnam Yakhchali added 15. The two teams will play their second match in Changchun, China on Friday. | 
