TIANJIN, China, August 13, 2009 (AFP) - He's running the floor, dunking the ball on fast breaks, hitting long shots, making assists, rebounding, and anchoring China's defense.

Yi Jianlian, 21 years old and 2.13 metres (seven-foot) tall, is coming of age at the ongoing Asian Basketball Championships, replacing the iconic but injured Yao Ming as the core player on Team China.

In six unbeaten matches, Yi is leading China with 18.5 points per game, 10.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots and is second on the team in assists with 2.7 per match.

"I'm not looking to set any personal records," the power forward for the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association said following Wednesday's 89-83 win over previously unbeaten Jordan.

"Overall we all played a really good game and everyone made a good effort."

Despite leading the entire match, Jordan came back in the final seconds to pull the score to 83-80 with 59 seconds left. That is when Yi stepped up with a key defensive stop, an assist and a free throw to seal the win.

"Even now when I think about that assist with 44 seconds left, I can't calm down," Yi said of the nifty pass to former Dallas Maverick centre Wang Zhizhi.

"At the time, I was looking to shoot, but then I saw Big Wang out of the corner of my eye slashing to the hoop... I passed it and he grabbed the ball," he said on his blog.

"After the game I heard that Big Wang said that I made a good pass, but actually it was that he made the cut at just the right time."

Wang was fouled on the basket and hit his free throw giving China a six point lead and "breaking Jordan's comeback bid," Yi said.

For the game, Yi scored 29 points and snared 18 rebounds, while Wang chipped in 23 points to seal China's place at the top of Group F and a berth in the quarterfinals against Taiwan on Friday.

"I'm always looking for my teammates during the game, there are many times when I get double-teamed, so I have to be looking to create opportunities for my teammates," Yi said of his improved passing skills.

His numbers are a far cry from the nine points and 7.5 rebounds a game he averaged at last year's Beijing Olympics when he played second fiddle to Houston Rocket's center Yao, who is sitting out the ongoing championships with a broken foot.

It is also a vast improvement over his career NBA average of 8.6 points a game with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Nets.

In the other quarterfinal match ups Friday, Jordan will meet the Philippines, while reigning champions Iran take on Qatar and South Korea meet Lebanon.

The top three teams will receive berths to the World Basketball Championships to be played in Turkey next year.