Avtodor beat Astana on the road – 92:83 (19:29, 22:19, 25:11, 26:24).
Top scorers
Astana: Michael Thompson (20+9 assists), Devyn Marble (19+6 rebounds), Adonis Thomas (15), Martins Meiers (10+6 rebounds).
Avtodor: Zeljko Sakic (20+11 rebounds), Evgeniy Minchenko (19), Nate Mason (17+5 assists), Nikita Mikhailovskii (17+5 rebounds).
Story
It was 6th game in a month for Avtodor. Less fatigued Astana immediately set high-paced aggressive offensive game. Avtodor weren’t good at offense, only Zeljko Sakic was noticeable. The hosts were successful from beyond the arc and after Michael Thompson accurate three the differential turned double digit – 21:11. Astana’s 6 threes in the first quarter helped the hosts maintain the lead by the start of the second – 29:19.
The second quarter started with Astana long-range shots as well and Gordie Herbert team’s lag became a disaster, -17. However, then Astana offense slowed down. By the end of the first half the hosts didn’t hit anything from down town. Meanwhile, Avtodor’s comeback was inspired by Nikita Mikhailovskii who was driving to the basket and scoring or drawing fouls. As a result, by the end of the first half the situation wasn’t so bad for the guests – 48:41.
Key moment
On the first seconds of the third Michael Thompson hit another three and that was Astana’s offense dead end. Avtodor made a 10:0 run led by Sakic and Mikhailovskii helped them to even the score – 51:51. Avtodor didn’t stop. They won the quarter 25:11 and it was time for the hosts to get nervous. Emil Rajkovikj team stormed guests’ rim but Avtodor found new hero Evgeniy Minchenko. The center was hitting shots almost in every possession not giving Kazakhstan hope for clutch. On the last minute Saratov 11-point lead converted to 4-point lead, however, Astana had no time to take the game over.
Hero
Evgeniy Minschenko. The center played brilliantly in the decisive period of the game scoring 12 points. Minchenko hit 7 of his 8 field goal attempts, including 3 from 4 threes.
Stat
17 points – Astana’s biggest lead of the game that Avtodor managed to overcome.
Comments
Astana head coach Emil Raikovikj:
– Congratulations to Avtodor on the victory, our rivals were better tonight, especially in the second half. We started the first half well but after the big break we had foul trouble. Ojars Silins couldn’t play tonight, thus Zeljko Sakic gave us a hard time. I think this is the main cause of our defeat.
Avtodor head caoch Gordie Herbert:
– I am proud of my players. We faced lots of problems this week. Some players were ill and couldn’t attend practices. It took 30 hours for us to reach Nur-Sultan. Despite this, we got an important W. Congratulations to out team on the perfect result and good basketball, especially in last 25 minutes.
Next
Astana: February 4 vs Enisey
Avtodor: February 7 vs UNICS
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