UNICS defeated Astana in Kazakhstan – 91:38 (26:12, 13:6, 30:10, 22:10).
Game progress
The first minutes of the game looked optimistic for Astana, as the hosts took the lead after Rustam Murzagaliev three-pointer. However, UNICS quickly took control of the game. Back-to-back three-pointers by Mikhail Belenitskii and Marcos Knight allowed the Kazan team to pull within 14 points by the end of the first quarter. Although Velimir Perasovic team played at a measured pace, Astana nhad problems with building good offensive possessions. By the end of the third quarter, the differencial was hopeless, as Knight gave UNICS a 40-point lead. The Kazan team got confident win, setting the best defensive game in team’s history.
X-factor
The Kazan team active defense gave no chance to Astana offense. None of the hosts players were able to score 10 points, while the guests 5 players scored double-digits.
Facts
UNICS was very close to repeating or even surpassing the best defensive performance in League history – in October 2022, Enisey allowed MINSK to score only 36 points.
Sergey Toropov made his first double-double of the season and got a new career-high 13 rebounds.
Leaders
Astana: Rustam Murzagaliev (9 + 5 rebounds + 3 steals), Andrey Desyatnikov (2 + 5 rebounds).
UNICS: Marcos Knight (21), Ismael Bako (14), Mikhail Belenitskii (13), Sergey Toropov (10 + 13 rebounds), Andrey Lopatin (10), Louis Labeyrie (5 + 11 rebounds).
What’s next
Astana: December 8 on the road versus MBA-MAI
UNICS: December 9 on the road against Avtodor.
