UNICS Kazan cruised against Nizhny Novgorod in its season opener, 104-81 (35-21, 24-17, 28-19, 17-24)
Top Scorers
UNICS: Evgeny Voronov (18), Artsiom Parakhouski (15 + 5 rebounds), Anton Ponkrashov (15), Coty Clarke (13 + 5 assists).
Nizhny Novgorod: DeAndre Kane (15 + 8 rebounds), Kenny Boynton (15 + 5 assists), Siim-Sander Vene (9 + 5 rebounds).
Turning Point
Kazan started the game on a 15-3 run and led by 14 at the end of the 1st quarter. The lead continued to grow, reaching 35 at one point in the second half.
Stat
104 – UNICS’s offense impressed, going over 100 points in the first game of the season.
Quotes
UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– We started the season with a good, impressive win. It’s something good to build on. But we still need to work on our team chemistry. We want to see this type of aggressive defense and effort in the future. Then we’ll get the result we want. Nobody’s going crazy over this win.
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Arturs Stalbergs:
– We gained good experience. We weren’t prepared. It’s one thing to have a game plan on paper and entirely different executing on the court. We didn’t do the job on defense for 30-35 minutes against the home team, at every position. I’m not sure yet what happened, but we have a young team and that often happens. We need to work on our mistakes.
