CSKA defeated Zenit at home and got the 22nd win in a row — 100:80 (23:24, 20:19, 33:25, 24:12)
Game progress
In the Game of the Week, the finalists of the last League played. CSKA had 21 consecutive wins. But the reigning champion made a mistake in the last last round, losing a 20-point comeback against MBA and lost in overtime. With 16 wins, the St. Petersburg team had the 3rd place.
The teams started at a high pace, with a lot of shots in the fastbreaks. In this shootout, the guests succeeded more and managed to get even a double-digit lead (16:6). However, Livio Jean-Charles noticeably strengthened the Moscow team defense, and Alexey Shved helped the team to get back to the game. The pace slowed down and the game became equal. In the second quarter, the lead passed from one team to another 10 times, and the opponents ended the fist half with a draw – 43:43.
The teams started a new shootout in the second half. Casper Ware was phenomenal and scored 20 points in the quarter. Alexey Shved helped teammates to score and scored by himself. 33 points in the third quarter allowed Emil Rajkovic team to get a comfortable lead before the fourth quarter – 76:68.
Key moment
In the fourth quarter, the guests ran out of strength as it was the team’s second game this week. CSKA continued to score threes almost without missing. Soon, the difference for the first time became double-digit for the hosts, and soon became 20 points. In the last minutes, there was only one intrigue — whether CSKA would able to score a 100 in the 13th game out of 22. Everyone could have expected that from Samson Ruzhentsev, who was able to make it sometimes, but in the end, Casper Ware scored the 100 for CSKA.
Key factor
Casper Ware and Alexey Shved duo. CSKA decided to use Shved – Milutinov duo less due to high pace and three-point shots game course. This strategy worked: Ware repeated his season high (27 points), Shved has 24 points and career high in assists – 16!
Fact
CSKA continues to demonstrate the best offense in the League. The Army team led in three-point percentage with 42.6%, and in the game with Zenit the Moscow team showed an outstanding result – 18 out of 35 threes, 51.4%.
Leaders
CSKA: Casper Ware (27), Alexey Shved (24 + 16 assists), Dejan Davidovac (18), Nikola Milutinov (10 + 8 rebounds)
Zenit: Caleb Homesley (20), Thomas Heurtel (17 + 5 rebounds + 10 assists), Sergey Karasev (11), Thomas Wimbush (11)
Next games
CSKA: home game against MBA
Zenit: home game versus Lokomotiv Kuban
