MBA defeated Zenit on the road in the Game 1 of the Quarterfinals – 65:61 (13:17, 20:22, 9:12, 23:10).
Game progress
The reigning champion led in the first half, but the League newcomer controlled the difference. But the hosts got advatnage in rotation and coaching staff experience. After 20 minutes, Zenit had the lead – 39:33.
The third quarter wasn’t satisfying with productive basketball. The teams scored 21 points combined, Zenit had a good chance before the fourth quarter. Trent Frazier started the last quarter with 2 made shots – 56:42.
Gleb Goldyrev and Makar Konovalov made threes and changed everything. MBA cought the fire and the St. Petersburg team lost the focus. The Moscow team made a 18-0 run to take a 4-point lead with 1:10 minute before the end.
Key moment
The final minute was devided into a lot of pauses. Zenit used bad foul tactics, and MBA intentionally fouled Thomas Heurtel with a 3-point lead. The point guard made just 1 out of 2, but Andrey Lopatin also made only 1 free-throw and let Zenit to safe the game – 64:61.
Zenit failed to use the saving possession as Heurtel made a turnover. Evgeny Voronov had an opportunity to make free-throws and he scored 1 out of 2 – 65:61.
Fact
MBA is the first League newcomer since 2015 to make the Playoffs in their debut season. The previous such club was Zenit in the 2014/15 season – then Vasiliy Karasev led the team and won 22 of 30 games, finished 4th in the regular season and lost 2:3 to Nizhny Novgorod in the Quarterfinals. In each of the following seasons, Zenit won at least one Playoff series.
Key factor
The St. Petersburg club scored only 1 point from the free-throw. Zenit made only 4 attempts in the entire game. The Moscow team played with maximum accuracy this time, while the hosts lacked aggression.
MBA also had problems with percentage (11 of 19), but in a game with such a small difference, even that was enough for success.
Leaders
Zenit: Tomas Heurtel (14 + 7 assists + 6 turnovers), Sergey Toropov (10 + 5 rebounds)
MBA: Andrey Lopatin (18 + 7 rebounds), Makar Konovalov (17), Daniil Kasatkin (4 + 7 rebounds + 8 assists)
Next game: April 3 in St. Petersburg
