BEIJING (AFP) — Former NBA bad boy Bonzi Wells scored 52 points and hauled in 14 rebounds as he continued his spectacular start in Chinese basketball's top league, leading Shanxi Zhongyu to an overtime victory.
Wells scored 13 of his team's 18 overtime points to seal victory over Fujian SBS on Sunday night, wowing a sell-out crowd of 6,000 in his home debut in the Chinese Basketball Association and fourth game overall.
Since arriving this month, Wells has averaged a league-leading 46.8 points a game and the Chinese press has hailed him as a "scoring machine" and the best former NBA player to grace the CBA.
"The coach is giving me a lot of space, in the NBA I was never able to play so freely," Wells, 32, said after Sunday's game through a Chinese translator.
"Since college until now, it has been a long time since I've been able to play this freely."
Shanxi is currently in 10th place in the CBA at 10-9, having won two and lost two with Wells in the line-up.
For much of Sunday, Shanxi's former NBA coach Bob Weiss had Wells playing at point guard and not his usual shooting guard or forward position, resulting in the 10-year NBA veteran also dishing out five assists on the night.
Wells averaged 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds over his NBA tenure with Portland, Memphis, Sacramento and Houston, a career often interrupted by troublesome on-court behaviour and various run-ins with coaches.