CSKA defeated UNICS at home, winning the first game after a 2-week break — 91:77 (27:15, 26:24, 17:22, 21:16).
Game progress
The Moscow team played the first game since February 15 after the All-Star break. But UNICS has already played against Zenit and lost.
For UNICS, the first half was like a continuation of the game with Zenit. Although CSKA played without leaders Nikola Milutinov and Alexey Shved. The experimental starting-5 with Livio Jean-Charles and Samson Ruzhentsev played well in defense, allowing the guests to score only 15 points in the first quarter. 1 minute before the end of the quarter, CSKA newcomer Devontae Cacok made a dunk, helping the team to get a double-digit lead after the first quarter — 23:13.
Dallas Moore three-pointer and Anton Astapkovich 6 points let UNICS trail by 18 points. And although Nenad Dmitrijevic was able to score a three-pointer at the end of the half, CSKA lead at the end of the first half remained impressive – 53:39.
Despite such a serious difference, UNICS did not stop trying to make a comeback. In the middle of the third quarter, Daryl Macon gave out a fantastic segment with 11 points in a row. CSKA lead was reduced to just 6 — 62:56.
Key moment
In the fourth quarter, the guests’ pursuit continued – 72:68 after Jalen Reynolds three-pointer. But this effort finally exhausted UNICS. Casper Ware and Dejan Davidovac quickly restored the double-digit lead and Velimir Perasovic team did not reply on this. Until the end, Ware and Davidovac duo did not let the guests defense work well. CSKA confidently took the win, which became the 26th this season. Now UNICS chances to catch up with the Army team become theoretical.
Key factor
Although CSKA entered the game without 2 leaders, the bench players made a decisive contribution to the game, completely outplaying the opponents — 43:9. Anton Astapkovich and Dallas Moore were key players, who scored 14 points each. Livio Jean-Charles and Samson Ruzhentsev, who were at the starting-5, also did not let Emil Rajkovic down with 13 and 12 points.
Fact
In the second game in a row, UNICS offense (second after CSKA this season — 87.3 points) failed to score more than 80 points. The Kazan team has had such game only once this season, between December and January. UNICS defense acted much better, which allowed the Kazan team to win both games.
Leaders
CSKA: Casper Ware (17 + 6 assists), Anton Astapkovich (14), Dallas Moore (14), Livio Jean-Charles (13), Samson Ruzhentsev (12)
UNICS: Daryl Macon (21), Nenad Dmitrijevic (17 + 9 assists), Louis Labeyrie (13 + 5 rebounds), Anthony Brown (12 + 6 rebounds)
Next games
CSKA: road game against MBA on March 7
UNICS: road game versus Pari Nizhniy Novgorod on March 6
