Published: February 7, 2018

It was one of the most difficult nights of the season for Jimmer Fredette and the Shanghai Sharks as they got crushed by the Shandong Golden Stars 117-92 on Tuesday.

The Sharks had no answers for the inside play of Donatas Motiejunas who finished with 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the floor while collecting 19 rebounds (eight on the offensive end), and handing out five assists.

Motiejunas also had plenty of help from Ding Yan Yu Hang who added 26 points and nine rebonds and Ty Lawson who chipped in with 15 points.

Nick Minnerath paced the Sharks in the lopsided loss managing 30 points on 8-for-20 shooting from the floor and 11-for-11 from the foul line. He added a team-best 10 rebounds before fouling out in 28 minutes.

Fredette finished second on the team with 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field, including 2-for-7 from beyond the arc and a perfect 5-for-5 from the foul line. He added five assists and a steal while playing just 31 minutes.

That makes it Fredette’s fifth straight game where he hasn’t missed a free throw. In fact, he has missed just 10 foul shots all season. It was also the 20th straight game where he hit at least two shots from 3-point land.

It was the second loss in a row and the fourth in the last seven games for the Sharks who are now 18-18 on the season with just two games remaining.

Through 36 games, Fredette is averaging 37.4 points a game on 47 percent shooting from inside the arc, 42 percent from 3-point land and 96 percent from the foul line. He also contributes 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 40.9 minutes.

Up next for Fredette and the Sharks is a battle with the Shenzhen Leopards on Thursday. The Leopards are 24-12 on the season and are in sixth place in the CBA standings following a 119-107 loss to Liaoning.

Shenzhen is led by the American duo of Jared Sullinger and Tyrese Rice. Sullinger is putting up monster numbers in his first season in the CBA averaging 30.4 points, 16.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks in 39.4 minutes a game.

As for Rice, he has been a solid contributor for the Leopards since replaced Keith Langford on the roster in mid-January. In nine games, Rice is putting up 16.8 points, 5.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 31.9 minutes.

Photo credit: By Bagumba (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons