Lokomotiv-Kuban beat Tsmoki-Minsk at home – 78:70 (16:17, 20:21, 20:10, 22:22)
Top scorers
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Alan Williams (25 + 16 rebounds + 5 assists), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (11 + 5 rebounds), Sam Dekker (11).
Tsmoki-Minsk: Dominez Burnett (20), Alexandre Gavrilovic (10 + 5 rebounds), Maksim Salash (8 + 7 rebounds).
Story
Lokomotiv-Kuban (9-4) made four victories in a row and, if they would be successful, were catching up CSKA in the table. Tsmoki-Minsk (3-10) has come to the game on the last line, but last week they beat Avtodor. The beginning of the game turned out to be not really high-scoring. For 5 minutes in total teams scored 12 points – the hosts were in the lead 7: 5. This part of the game set the pace for the whole first half, which they spent neck-to-neck and often missed the shots from behind the arc (2/13 Loko, 4/13 Tsmoki). But the fans were happy with the productivity of Alan Williams (13 + 8) and with the shots of Dominez Burnett (17 points). After 20 minutes, the Dragons were in the lead 38:36.
After switching sides, Loko made a 10-0 run in 4 minutes (46:38). Krasnodar perfectly spent the third quarter in defense, they haven’t allowed Burnett to score a single point and have let the entire opponent’s team to score just ten points. Led by Johnny O’Bryant and Williams, Loko got twice as much as they’ve got, and scored 8 points before the final quarter (56:48).
Key moment
Tsmoki at the beginning of the fourth quarter tried to turn the game over. Maxim Salash scored two and-ones, and Burnett and Vitali Liutych were good at three-point shots. Lokomotiv responded with a powerful play from Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who scored 9 points in a row and moved away the comeback threat, 65:57 by the middle of the decisive quarter. In the remaining time, Loko controlled the situation, they were playing under the hoop to Williams and saved the advantage.
Loko won the fifth victory in a row and caught CSKA in the table, losing to them in additional stats.
Hero
Alan Williams. The big of Krasnodar team spent 31 and a half minutes on the court and was as productive as possible: 25 points with 9 out of 12 from the field, 16 rebounds and 5 assists. 38 points overall – the third best result of the season.
Stat
3 – this is how many points was able to score the leader of Tsmoki Burnett in the second half. By the break his stats were 17.
Comments
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Rostislav Vergun:
– At the beginning of the third quarter, we allowed the run 10:0, which is absolutely unacceptable in the game against such a team, especially on the road. Opponent had an advantage in paint, which they used well. Our bigs were not so productive in offence, with such an amount of work in defense. We played today half less of our capabilities, we will draw conclusions and prepare for the next game. ”
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– It is very important that we win as a team. During a long break, we talked in the locker room about the game in defense against the forwards of the guests Lowery and Burnett, went out into the second half much more concentrated and were able to stop the leaders of Tsmoki. Burnett after the break, for example, scored only three points. We won the rebounds, thanks to our athleticism, we continue to remain the best team for this stat in the League. We were not in a hurry in offence, there were quick breakthroughs, and the game was through pick-and-rolls. The strength of Lokomotiv-Kuban lies in its tough defense, rebounds and smart offence. We will analyze mistakes and improve the quality of the game. Step by step we go to our goal.
Next
Lokomotiv-Kuban: January 25 at Enisey
Tsmoki-Minsk: January 26 at Khimki
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