CSKA downed UNICS on the road – 83:76 (18:17, 22:24, 18:16, 25:19).
Top scorers
UNICS: Isaiah Canaan (36), Nate Walters (17 + 5 rebounds), .
CSKA: Mike James (22), Tornike Shengelia (18 + 12 rebounds), Darrun Hilliard (16).
Story
CSKA (7-2) came to Kazan with a 12-game winning streak. UNICS (5-3) are not that stable, but had won 3 in a row before tonight. The teams started carefully, with tight defense – 8:7 after 5 minutes. This went up until the big break with a bit more offense in the second quarter. Kazan’s key player was Isaiah Canaan with 17 points in the first half. UNICS managed to take the lead, but not more than 6 points. The Red-blues had Tornike Shengelia and Mike James up the stage. Plus, the guests were better in rebounds, so 41:40 after 20 minutes looked fair.
Thanks to Mike James and a 6:0 run, CSKA took the lead soon after the break. UNICS responded with Canaan’s 9 straight points in 60 seconds. The Army club still managed to cope with this steam and had minimal lead before the decisive quarter.
After unsportsmanlike foul by Dmitri Uzinskii, CSKA started the quarter with Milutinov’s free throws and Alexander Khomenko’s basket and then Daniel Hacket sealed the run with a 3-pointer – 65:57.
Key moment
UNICS started the chase, but CSKA holded. They put pressure in the paint where Milutinov and Shengelia were unstoppable especially with Okaro White, John Brown and Jordan Morgan fouled out. The White-green defense couldn’t take it anymore, CSKA received additional offensive option of Kurbanov. Double-digit lead for the Red-blues 3 minutes before the end… Moscow controlled the game from that point.
Nikola Milutinov puts the end to the Game of the Week 😱 pic.twitter.com/wJwycqsVqn
— VTB League (@VTBUL) December 26, 2020
UNICS suffered their first home defeat in the lead. CSKA are chasing the first place.
Hero
Tornike Shengelia. The cornerstone to CSKA win was advantage in duels and rebounds (46-27). UNICS didn’t manage to hold Shengelia under the rim: 18 points, 12 rebounds and 6 of 12 field goals.
Stat
36 points by Isaiah Canaan. New season record.
Comment
UNICS head coach Dimitris Priftis:
“A tough game, we were competing for more than 30 minutes. The level and quality of our opponent is obvious. Our main problem was the defensive rebounds. They really pressed us under the rim. 20 offensive rebounds – this is too much. We have to control this component, we gave too many second chance points. And we need another offensive threat, as we have only Canaan and Walters. We need another scoring player. Otherwise, we can’t beat teams of this level.”
CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis:
“Congrats to the team, it was an open fight during the whole game, especially in the first half. In the break we spoke about how we have to change the attitude, put more effort in the seconds half. But we have to admit that the teams have different schedules, we have too many games now. Plus we lack many players – Will Clyburn, Joel Bolomboy, Janis Strelnieks. Hackett played after a long break. With all due respect to UNICS, our roster and goals make us play better. I’m really satisfied with today’s performance of reserve players, especially Khomenko. He drove the team with his energy. He’s a great example for young players of how to come to the game and show oneself.”
Next
UNICS: January 3 vs Avtodor
CSKA: January 3 at Nizhny Novgorod
Photo
