CSKA suffers a fiasco in Tallinn, Hezonja shines in Perm, Zielona Gora has the first W and Halloween in the stands. Week results

CSKA suffers a fiasco in Tallinn, Hezonja shines in Perm, Zielona Gora has the first W and Halloween in the stands. Week results

There are no more unbeaten teams in the League!

Sensation of the week (season?) – in Tallinn

The main game took place somewhat unexpectedly in the capital of Estonia: Kalev hosted CSKA and managed to defeat the Army team at home for the first time in 30 years!

However, the beginning of the game was favorable for the current champions. CSKA missed only 4 points in 5 minutes, and Kenneth Faried scored the first points from the game – in his style, of course!

Another good news for the Moscow club fans was the Tornike Shengelia return after an injury – the forward came out on the floor in the starting five and got a spectacular block.

However, it turned out that defence was not enough to win. Kalev seized the initiative after a not too successful start and took the lead by the halftime:

CSKA le Kalev to score only 7 points in the 3rd quarter, but failed to get ahead. And by the end, the Army team lost 14 points – 46:60. As a result, Dimitris Itoudis team updated the club’s performance anti-record, scoring only 56 (the previous achievement held since March 2012, when CSKA lost to Nymburk 60:79).

Kalev has previously won CSKA in the United League. However, it was in Moscow. And the last win in Tallinn took place more than 30 years ago: in May 1991, the Estonians were stronger than the Army team, after which they became USSR champions.

But now it is no less important for the Estonian team that after this win it rose to the playoff zone. For CSKA, this defeat was the first of the season.

Birthday Man of the Week

On the day of the game with CSKA, Kalev guard Davion Berry turned 30. Is it possible to celebrate the anniversary better than the win over one of the strongest teams in Europe?

Even Loko center Alan Williams joined the congratulations:

Poster of the week? Poster of the year! Hezonja takes off in Perm and returns UNICS to 2nd place

PARMA and UNICS game in Perm did not give the fans a sensation, but the intrigue in the game lived until the last seconds. There was no reason to expect a high pace from this game: UNICS, who arrived in Perm after two Euroleague games in a row, were not going to increase their speed, and PARMA, in principle, one of the most positional teams of the League.

But the hosts opened the scoring already on the 5th second of the game – Mareks Mejeris completed Alexander Platunov pass with a dunk:

UNICS, however, seized the initiative. Mario Hezonja, who scored 13 points in the first half, went into the halftime in the status of leader. By the way, the Croatian forward created, perhaps, the best moment of the current season – this poster will be remembered in Perm for a long time!

But Hezonja alone could not cope with the PARMA defence: as soon as they covered the Croat, UNICS immediately slowed down in offence and even completed the 3rd quarter with a minimal advantage – 56:57. John Brown III came to help his team. The forward, better known for his defense, did not allow the Perm team to made a run in the 3rd quarter and hit several important shots in the final 10 minutes. John Brown III scored 19 points and got 3 steals in this game, and after the halftime, he scored 15 points and got 2 steals.

However, Mario Hezonja became the hero of the ending anyway: his shots in the last minutes that gave UNICS the 4th win of the season and returned Kazan to 2nd place in the standings. The Croat left the court with 27 points  – his second best in the United League.

Zenit has the best defensive game of the season

The St. Petersburg club flew to Krasnoyarsk after a difficult double week in the Euroleague, following which it rose to the tournament playoff zone. And yet, even with a difficult schedule, Zenit remained the game favorite. Especially considering that Enisey historically plays unsuccessfully against rivals from St. Petersburg: Krasnoyarsk lost in all 14 games earlier.

This game was no exception: Zenit won on road and returned to the Top 3 in the standings. And the key figure of the game was Jordan Mickey. Zenit forward scored more in the first quarter (16) than the entire Enisey (14).

Mickey’s successful plays at the start of the game allowed Zenit to break away in the score. Enisey managed to cope with Jordan in the future, but the Krasnoyarsk team did not succeed in the offence. The guests missed only 56 points that day, updating their own defensive record of the season, and got the 15th win in the rivalry with Enisey.

Zielona Gora has its first win, three-point bombing and Halloween in the stands

On the last day of October in Poland, Zielona Gora hosted Tsmoki. Both teams have not yet had win in the new season, so both Poles and Belarusians were determined to succeed in this game.

At the same time, the players did not forget about the fans. Tsmoki bigman Robert Upshaw, for example, from the first minutes began to slam:

And ZG leader Nemanja Nenadic ran away from a sleeping defender:

But if you look not at the effect, but at the result, then Zielona Gora turned out to be much stronger than its rivals. The hosts almost reached their first hundred, but 96 points were enough for a debut win in the season.

Zielona Gora managed to win with incredible efficiency from the perimeter: 17 three-pointers – a new team best in the United League!

And Zielona Gora fans celebrated 2 things at once: the first win of their team and Halloween:

Team of the Week

JeQuan Lewis and Rauno Nurger became the key players of Kalev’s historic win over CSKA.
Nemanja Nenadic scored 21 points in the successful Zielona Gora game with Tsmoki-Minsk.
Mario Hezonja played one of the best games in the League and helped UNICS win in Perm.
Jordan Mickey gave an incredible quarter in Krasnoyarsk and turned out to be the most effective Zenit player in the game with Enisey.

Top 10 plays of the Week

Standings