Juan Carlos Blanco, RotoWire
LAS VEGAS — Team China played well for three quarters and held off a late rally to defeat the Charlotte Hornets, 84-80, at Cox Pavilion in a Las Vegas Summer League matchup Monday evening.
Team China (1-2) established a 45-38 halftime lead and had added another three points to their advantage entering the fourth quarter.
However, the Hornets (1-2) fought back to come within two points with as little as 30 seconds remaining in the contest. Ultimately, a late turnover on a bad pass by Cody Martin led to a pair of game-clinching free throws by China’s Jiwei Zhao.
Qi Zhou led Team China with 17 points, adding nine rebounds, four blocks and one steal. Ailun Guo followed with 12 points, four assists, two rebounds and one steal. Zhelin Wang and Shuo Fang added matching nine-point tallies, with Wang also hauling in six rebounds and Fang dishing out six assists.
Arnoldas Kulboka paced the Hornets with 18 points, complementing them with four rebounds, one assist and two steals. Joe Chealey poured in 16 points and also posted six assists and two rebounds. Isaiah Hicks turned in 12 points, four rebounds and one assist. Martin, a 2019 second-round pick, tallied nine points, seven boards, three assists and three steals.
Both teams return to action Wednesday, with the Hornets taking on the Chicago Bulls and Team China doing battle with the Milwaukee Bucks.
