UNICS defeated CSKA in the Finals Game 4 in Moscow 96:80 (24:15, 27:32, 24:13, 21:20).
Game progress
From the first minutes, the guests showed the determination to win. Long-range shots by Andrey Vorontsevich and Marcos Knight gave the Kazan team lead in the opening quarter. The end of the first quarter was Nenad Dimitrijevic time. UNICS leader scored 7 points and gave his team a comfortable lead – 24:15.
CSKA backcourt was led by Anton Astapkovich and Olivier Hanlan. They scored 13 points, and the Moscow team took the lead – 30:29. The guests regained the lead with long-range shots. In the first half, the Volga team made 7 of 11 three-pointers. Dmitriy Kulagin, Viacheslav Zaitsev and Dimitrijevic allowed UNICS to go into the halftime with a 4-point lead – 51:47.
In the third quarter, UNICS’ defense again worked. At the same time, the Kazan team kept up the pace in offense. Pick-and-rolls and three-pointers allowed the guests to seriously increase the lead. After Zaitsev long-range shot, the difference was already 15 points – 75-60.
Key moment
At the start of the final quarter, the Moscow team picked up the pace. But this didn’t bring a lot of advantages. The hosts couldn’t score any long-range shots and most of the attempts to get in the paint were denied by the opponent. In the middle of the quarter, after Dimitrijevic made shot, UNICS’ lead reached 19 points – 85:66. The Kazan team didn’t let go of the lead and got the win..
X-factor
Three-pointers were key in this game. The Kazan team made 13 of 22 (59.1%). The Moscow team were able to make only 5 of 26 (19.2%).
Fact
UNICS got first win in the Fonal Series. The teams’ next game will be in Kazan, where the hosts will try to end tradition. UNICS has never won 2 games against CSKA in the Playoffs.
Viacheslav Zaitsev was the Kazan team key player in this game. Since April 28, the guard hasn’t scored a single point in 8 games. In tonight’s game, the Russian guard became the second best scorer in UNICS (13 points).
Leaders
CSKA: Melo Trimble (16), Anton Astapkovich (14), Olivier Hanlan (11), Amath M’Baye (10).
UNICS: Nenad Dimitrijevic (27 + 9 assists), Viacheslav Zaitsev (13), Marcos Knight (12), Dmitriy Kulagin (11), Andrey Vorontsevich (11), Louis Labeyrie (10 + 8 rebounds).
What’s next
June 5 in Kazan.
