Astana beat MINSK at home and ended the losing streak – 77:48 (20:13, 18:5, 16:18, 23:12).
Game progress
Astana (3-16) and MINSK (1-18) are closing the standings. On December 25, Oleg Kiselev team beat the Minsk team on the road – 76:65.
The Kazakh team started with a 5:0 run and had the lead in the opening quarter, but MINSK did not give up – 20:13. The key was the second quarter, because Astana allowed the opponent to score only 5 points. The Belarusian team had 0 out of 9 three-pointers after 20 minutes. With Markell Johnson and Kwame Vaughn actions, the hosts had a solid lead – 38:18 by the halftime.
In the second half, the game has not changed at all. Astana held the lead until the end and took a step towards the playoffs. The win with a such difference was the 3rd biggest for the team in the VTB League. The record was set against Vita (118:61, won by 57 points), the second result was against MINSK (101:71, won by 30 points).
Key factor
Astana played the last road game more than 2 weeks ago, after which the team spent all time at home. This contributed the Kazakh team well before important game versus MINSK and Astana had a good shape.
Fact
Belarusian Cup final games were in the last days of 2022. MINSK won the Cup beating Grodno. In the VTB United League, things are not so good for the Minsk team: the Rostislav Vergun team streak reached 9 losses.
Leaders
Astana: Rustam Murzagaliev (14), Michael Myers (13 + 11 rebounds), Daniil Aksenov (13 + 7 rebounds), Markell Johnson (12 + 6 assists), Kwame Vaughn (12 + 5 rebounds)
MINSK: Zach Smith (12 + 7 rebounds), Uladzislau Bliznyuk (11)
Next games
Astana: road game against CSKA on January 14
MINSK: road game versus Lokomotiv Kuban on January 15
