体坛英语新闻：McGrady still absent as Qingdao loses to Fujian again

QINGDAO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tracy McGrady, ex-NBA superstar, was still absent Friday due to injuries, as his Qingdao Doublestar lost to Fujian again a match of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league.

Qingdao was defeated by the opponent 92-95 in the first round. Zhang Shizhang, coach of Qingdao, blamed the weak defence as the reason for the second loss.

"But our players did their best. I am satisfied with their performances." Zhang said.

Chris Daniels snatched a game-high 29 points and 15 rebounds. Wang Zhelin, 19, got a team-high 21 points and six rebounds for Fujian and his teammate Macdonald notched 15 points and seven rebounds.

"Macdonald didn't get many points tonight, but he made up in rebounds." Baldwin, coach of Fujian, said, "Chinese players really did a good job today."

Qingdao grabbled one-point lead in the first quarter, but the visiting team levelled the score 26-26 soon and led by 12 points when the first half ended.

Powered by Chris Daniels, an ex-NBDL player and top scorer in the 16th round, Qingdao managed to make up the deficit and surpassed Fujian with two points before the final quarter.

The two teams were back to draw 87-87 with four minutes remaining. The host team then got no point in two minutes and lost the game 92-104.

Asked when McGrady can play, Zhang said it depended on the doctor of the team.

McGrady, seven-time NBA all-star, got injuries in back and legs in last December and was absent in the last round against Guangdong.