(Photo source: sina.com)

Defending champions Guangdong suffered a 101-98 loss while visiting Fujian. This is only their fifth loss this season.

North Conference leaders Beijing were embarrassed at home. The young Liaoning team breached Beijing's solid defenses with a 113-110 away victory.

Another traditional powerhouse, Bayi, stretched their recent sluggish away record to four games in a row after they fell to Jiangsu, 103-95.

Jiangsu, meanwhile, had their winning streak extended to four.

In a decisive match for the fifth position of the North Conference, Shandong beat visiting Shaanxi, 110-107, to take the lead. However, the match was marred by a four-minute pause in the third quarter after Shaanxi's head coach called his players off the court in protest against the referee's judgment calls.