Unison
CSKA and Lokomotiv put up big numbers in Game 1. Both teams took 21 three-point attempts and both connected 13 times for an impressive 61%. Not surprisingly, the opponents ended up combining for 196 points.
Century Mark
CSKA scored 101 points in Game 1, marking the 10th time a team has scored 100+ points in the League playoffs.
VIP
Alexander Ovechkin attended Game 1 of the CSKA – Loko series. The Washington captain may have sparked his friend Vitaly Fridzon, who finished with 15 points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc as the Army Men pulled out a close win.
“It was a good game. Vitaly Fridzon is the man. He played great!” – Ovechkin told the press after the game.
Ovechkin wasn’t the only USA-based Russian star to check out the semifinals. NBA champion and ex-Khimki center Timofey Mozgov paid close attention to his former team in the series with Zenit.
Bench
CSKA’s bench outscored Loko’s by a whopping 57 points (87-30) in the series.
Factor
Loko shot a better percentage inside the arc throughout the series (56-53%, 50-47%, 53-48%). But as we know, Krasnodar didn’t manage to win a single game. In recent years, other components of the game have come to play a much bigger role. CSKA, for example, dominated the three-point shooting (62-62%, 52-38%, 46-29%).
Play
Accuracy
James Augustine had the best field-goal percentage in the CSKA – Loko series, finishing at 90% (9-10).
Surprise
Milos Teodosic had the worst +/- of anyone on CSKA’s roster: -2 for the series.
Consistency
In all three games, there were 3 ties apiece.
Rebounds
Zenit’s 49 rebounds in Game 4 is the second-most by a team in League playoff history.
Fouls
Zenit also set a playoff record with 34 fouls in Game 4.
Play
Magnet
31 – number of fouls drawn by Marko Todorovic against Zenit.
Like Shved, Khimki is very dependent on Todorovic, who often runs the pick-and-roll with the MVP. Todorovic frequently got the ball in those situations and took full advantage of his height and back-to-the basket moves to force Zenit to foul.
Rescue
For the 2nd time in League history, a team overcame a 2-0 series deficit. The first comeback took place in 2013-14, when CSKA managed to escape against Lokomotiv-Kuban. Khimki did so without home-court advantage, it should be noted.
Facilitator
34 – number of assists dished out by Stefan Markovic, who led all players in the semifinals. The heroic Serb, who gave everything despite injuries and playing through pain, was close to becoming the biggest star of the semifinals. But the fame goes to the victors.
Frenzy
5690 – number of fans at Game 5 in St. Petersburg. That’s a new SC Yubileyniy record for Zenit. Prior to the game, the arena decided to open up the seats behind the basket and sell those tickets. It turned out to be a great decision.
Points
137 – number of points scored by the unstoppable Alexey Shved against Zenit (31+23+22+33+28).
Shved was the top scorer in the quarterfinals, averaging 27 per game (81 total). Some fans may have been inclined to dismiss those stats, given Khimki’s domination of Enisey. But it turned out he was only getting started.
Shved, who received his regular-season MVP midway through the series, averaged 27.4 points per game against Zenit, once again taking center stage. He also moved into 9th place all-time in playoff points, passing CSKA’s Victor Khryapa.
Repeat
4 – This will be the record fourth CSKA – Khimki final in League history. The Army Men enjoy a 2-1 lead in finals match-ups over Moscow Region.
