Nizhny Novgorod defeated PARMA-PARIMATCH at home — 79:65 (21:14, 16:21, 17:22, 25:8).
The best scorers
Nizhny Novgorod: Ivan Strebkov (23 + 9 rebounds), Ilya Platonov (16), Sergey Toropov (12), Anton Astapkovich (10 + 5 rebounds)
PARMA-PARIMATCH: Adas Jushkevicius (12), Eigirdas Zhukauskas (11 + 9 rebounds)
Game progress
The first half was Ivan Strebkov benefit, who eventually scored 15 points before the halftime. His active playstyle helped the hosts to build a double-digit lead by the middle of the first quarter – 15:5. Nizhny Novgorod players led the whole first half in the score, but they failed to maintain a comfortable advantage. In the second quarter, PARMA’s Lithuanian duo Eigirdas Zhukauskas – Adas Jushkevicius returned the guests to the game with several 3-point shots. The not very productive first half ended with a minimal difference – 37:35, and the last shot was made by PARMA – Jushkevicius scored a three-point buzzer beater.
🚨 @8Adas pic.twitter.com/oAxx8oKzUh
— VTB League (@VTBUL) November 8, 2021
In the third quarter, Nizhny Novgorod continued to hold the lead, but at the end of the quarter, PARMA became more active. Jeremiah Hill and Nikolai Zhmako started the run, and Alexander Platunov put PARMA ahead with a 3-pointer. The guests started the final game segment already in the status of the leading side – 57:54.
The key moment
Until the middle of the fourth 10 minutes, there was an equal battle — Nizhny periodically pulled ahead, but PARMA immediately came back. But the increased pressure of the hosts forced Parma players to make mistakes more and more often. The Perm team made several turnovers in a row, and for almost every one of them Nizhny Novgorod punished the guests with scored shots.
For almost four minutes, Kazys Maksvytis’ squad could not score a single point. During this time, Nizhny Novgorod gave a 15:0 run, removing all questions about the winner of the game. Zoran Lukic’s team got the third win of the season and is secured in the playoff zone.
Hero
Ivan Strebkov. Nizhny Novgorod captain was everywhere in this game – he went to the paint, shot from a distance, collected more rebounds than both PARMA bigmen, and gjt 3 steals.
Numbers
19 turnovers and especially 8 turnovers in the 4th quarter predetermined the outcome of the game. After the opponent’s mistakes, Nizhny scored 32 points.
Comments
Gintaras Kadzioulis, PARMA-PARIMATCH Assistant Coach:
– There are two reasons for our loss. Firstly, we did not work well on the boards, we did not take care Nizhny players, and the opponent acted more successfully than us and had more opportunities to score second chance points. Secondly, in the last quarter we tried to use missmatches opportunity, but Nizhny Novgorod players defended well and did not allow us to play our basketball.
Zoran Lukic, Nizhny Novgorod Head Coach :
– First of all, I want to congratulate my team. We had a great last quarter, or rather, even five minutes, when we left with a draw score. It seemed to me that the five of our players who were on the court at that time looked fresher than our rivals. We found good solutions in offence, showed good defense and took a very important win for us. There are some details that I’m not happy with. I don’t want to go into details, but if we continue in the same spirit, we won’t last long. But I can praise my players for their character! The right decisions at key moments, clearly knew how to attack. This was our advantage, and the win was deserved.
What’s next
Nizhny Novgorod: November 13 at home against Tsmoki-Minsk
PARMA: November 15 road game versus Kalev