Loko set a season high in points, PARMA is saved in Minsk, Lukic is dissatisfied even after the win. Week results

Loko set a season high in points, PARMA is saved in Minsk, Lukic is dissatisfied even after the win. Week results

The key moments and news of the week in the VTB United League.

Loko demonstrates the top offence with incredible efficiency

The games of Avtodor and Loko are traditionally dynamic and spectacular, but Sunday’s game in Saratov stood out especially: the teams scored more than 200 points in total, updating the seasonal performance record.

Avtodor, accustomed to playing fast, offered the guests a high tempo from the first minutes, and Loko gladly accepted it. The Krasnodar team had a really unique opening quarter, making all 12 shots from the field and leaving for the big break with 31 points scored. Even Portland Trailblazers guard C.J. McCollum appreciated this efficiency:

But this was not the limit: in the 3rd quarter, Loko scored 33 points, and eventually updated the season high in points in one game – 108 points! Krasnodar players made 66.7% of their shots – this is the 2nd score in the history of the team and the 12th in the United League.

Demonstrating such effectiveness in offence, it is difficult to lose: Lokomotiv-Kuban won Avtodor with a 25 points lead. McCollum-Motley duo led Loko to their second win of the season, scoring a total of 56 points.

Dunk of the Week

By the way, Motley led the Weekly Top-10 plays of the week with his “Mamba mentality” dunk:

“The only positive moment in Nizhny Novgorod game is the win”

Last week’s newsmaker – Astana, which beat Zenit on road, came to Nizhny Novgorod hoping for another win over a strong team. And according to the results of the first half, Astana could not be called as an outsider – it could have gone on a long break as a leader, if not for the spectacular buzzer-beater by Lazeric Jones:

Jaylen Barford impressed more than others. The hero in the game versus Zenit intended to arrange another performance and already scored 21 points in the first half!

But after a big break, the guests’ resultativity has noticeably decreased. Nizhny Novgorod managed to close Barford, seized the initiative and lead the game:

In the end of the game, both teams had chances to win, but the hosts were a little luckier. The decisive ball turned out to be on Mikhail Kulagin’s account – and how can we not remember this famous “luck to the strongest”?

But Rolands Freimanis got the highest score- the Latvian forward scored 25 points and got 6 rebounds.

At a press conference after the game, NN Head Coach Zoran Lukic noted that there is still a lot of work ahead: “For us, the only positive moment is the win. One bird is not spring.”

Loss of the week

At the same press conference, Lukic announced that Anton Astapkovich was out with a broken arm and would miss at least a month. The Russian forward started against Astana and managed to score 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists before the injury.

Tsmoki lose the centers, but almost beat PARMA

Shortly before the game in Minsk, it became known that both Tsmoki bigmen- Robert Upshaw and Vadzim Stubeda – would not be able to play due to injuries. In fact, the Minsk team found themselves without centers in the roster for the game against PARMA, whose front line was occupied by Artiom Parakhouski, Eigirdas Zhukauskas, Artem Zabelin and Mareks Mejeris.

But despite the injuries, Tsmoki actually did not concede to the guests from the Perm Krai team – only Jeremiah Hill’s buzzer allowed PARMA to win the first quarter:

During the game, the Belarusian team had a 7-point lead and led in the last minutes, but missed several three-pointers and suffered the 3rd loss in a row. And PARMA’s hero was Mareks Mejeris, who scored 23 points and 5 rebounds:

Comeback of the Week

Artem Zabelin returned to PARMA and the United League and played his first game since January 2020: 8 points, 1 rebound and a dunk:

Enisey wins in Tallinn, despite Anzulovic loss

Enisey played its first game of the season 5 thousand kilometers from home – and still got the W over Kalev. Moreover, during the game, the guests won +16, but in the end they relaxed and came up with problems – the Estonians almost turned the game into overtime.

At the same time, Enisey played more than half of the game without its coach: Drazen Anzulovic was removed for 2 technical fouls even before the big break. But the Krasnoyarsk team managed to take the win away from Tallinn, and largely due to the high percentage of shots – 51%.

Numbers of the week

108 – Loko  set a new scoring best of the season.

Transfer of the week

On Saturday, CSKA announced the signing of Kenneth Faried. The forward spent 8 seasons in the NBA and played almost 500 games. The contract with Faried is for 2 months with the possibility of extension until the end of the season.

Heroes of the Week

Errick McCollum and Jonathan Motley scored 56 points for two and led Loko to an away win in Saratov.
NN guard Ivan Strebkov was effective on both sides of the court in the game versus Astana – he got 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
Casper Ware was Enisey leader in Tallinn – 20 points with 7/12 from the field and 3 steals.
And Mareks Mejeris helped PARMA to take away a difficult win from Minsk – 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Standings