China breezes over Croatia 89-73 in World Cup warm-up game

KUNSHAN, China - Chinese men's national basketball team defeated Croatia 89-73 thanks to wonderful third-quarter performance.

The four-team 2019 FIBA World Cup warm-up series includes China, Angola, Croatia and Puerto Rico. Both China and Croatia beat their opponents in the first round one day ago.

The two sides had a close first half, in which the host team took a 4-point advantage.

China figured out a way in the third quarter. Former NBA Milwaukee Bucks forward Yi Jianlian and other Chinese big men continued to put pressure on their opponents in the paint, and the gap was widened to as many as 20 points.

Croatia trimmed the deficit to nine points in the final period, only to see China extend the lead again and close the game with a 16-point advantage.

Yi had a team-high 19 points for China. Zhou Qi and Guo Ailun added 15 and 14 respectively.

China out-rebounded Croatia 39-22 and made seven fewer fouls.

Toni Perkovic had 19 points for the Croatia.

In the other game on Sunday, Puerto Rico edged Angolan 66-64.

China will next face Puerto Rico and Croatia will take on Angola on Monday.