Lokomotiv-Kuban defeated Avtodor on the road — 108:95 (31:19, 25:26, 33:19, 19:31).
The best scorers:
Avtodor: DJ Funderburk (20), Kenny Cherry (13 + 5 assists), Green Jarrett (11 + 5 rebounds), Pavel Sergeev (10)
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Eric McCollum (30 + 9 assists), Jonathan Motley (26 + 6 rebounds), Darius Thompson (18 + 7 rebounds + 9 assists), Stanton Kidd (12)
Game progress
Although Avtodor had the first word in the game, the guests quickly seized the initiative. Loko powerful pressure through the paint immediately began to pay dividends — Saratov could not stop Jonathan Motley, who scored 11 points in a quarter. For the entire first 10 minutes, Loko never missed from the field and naturally led by a double-digit lead – 31:19.
Так вообще бывает? 😱@lokobasket забил все 12 бросков с игры в 1-й четверти против «Автодора», не промахнувшись ни разу! pic.twitter.com/H3M6nl2bxR
— VTB League (@VTBUL) October 10, 2021
The second quarter began with another knockout punch — 8 points from Errick McCollum in a row. The score difference came close to 20 points. However, Kenny Chery was not going to throw a white flag, initiating Avtodor run 10:2. Although Motley continued to tear apart Avtodor defence, the Saratov team managed to leave for the big break with a not so catastrophic difference – 56:45.
The key moment
At the start of the third quarter, Loko found new heroes. Darius Thompson and Andrey Martyuk restored a comfortable brun for Lokomotiv-Kuban, and after another Motley shot, the Saratov team’s lag reached -20 for the first time in this game — 69:49. The Krasnodar team did not stop there, but began to systematically increase their advantage, repeating and even improving the first quarter result – 33:19. The final game segment turned into a formality, and one question remained — whether Loko would be able to break the current record of the season’s performance set by CSKA in the game against Zielona Gora – 105 points. Shortly before the end of the game, Eric McCollum scored the 106th point of his team.
Hero
Errick McCollum. In the second game in a row, Loko sniper crosses 30 points mark. McCollum added 9 assists to the highest performance. It is also worth noting Jonathan Motley, who scored 26 points. And Darius Thompson was close to a triple-double: 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Numbers
100 is Loko shot percentage from the field in the first 10 minutes. Krasnodar scored all 12 shots.
Comments
Emil Rajkovic, Avtodor Head Coach:
– Lokomotiv was the best team today, they deserved to win. Their players were stronger and more accurate, but we did everything in our power to win. I think our pick-and-roll defense is something we should work on especially if we want to compete on an equal with teams like Loko.
Evgeny Pashutin, Lokomotiv-Kuban Head Coach:
– I want to congratulate our team on the win. We have been preparing for this game for all week, we understood that Avtodor is headed by an experienced high-level coach. We controlled rebounds, controlled the game for 37 minutes. This is the game that we strive for, we began to understand each other better as a team, to find roles. I would like to note that the starting five had a great start, but everyone who came to the court contributed, gave energy. That’s the team. We understand that there is something to work on – this is just the beginning of the season.
What’s next
Avtodor: home game against Tsmoki-Minsk on October 16
Lokomotiv-Kuban: home game versus Zenit on October 17
