The Game of the Week – 🔥 🔥 🔥 CSKA’s comeback, 3 overtimes, Hezonja and Hackett’s bests and O.J. Mayo’s winning shot!

The Game of the Week – 🔥 🔥 🔥 CSKA’s comeback, 3 overtimes, Hezonja and Hackett’s bests and O.J. Mayo’s winning shot!

UNICS stole the win from CSKA on the road – 105:103 3OT (26:13, 16:28, 18:20, 17:16, 28:26).

The best scorers
CSKA: Daniel Hackett (33 + 5 rebounds 4 steals), Iffe Lundberg (19), Joel Bolomboy (12), Alexey Shved (11 + 5 assists)
UNICS: Mario Hezonja (31 + 10 rebounds), John Brown III (16 + 9 rebounds 4 steals), Isaiah Canaan (13), Viacheslav Zaitsev (11), Tonye Jekiri (10 + 10 rebounds)

Game progress
The Army team went to one of the key games of the entire season not only without a number of key players, but also without Dimitris Itoudis, who missed several recent games due to illness. And in the 1st quarter, UNICS managed to take advantage of CSKA’s problems. The start of the game was equal, but in the middle of the 1st quarter, the smooth flow of the game was broken with 6 consecutive points from Mario Hezonja. The Croat was supported by John Brown III and isaiah Canaan. And Andrey Vorontsevich, who got an assist and scored a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter, allowed UNICS to finish the 1st quarter with a double-digit lead – 26:13.

The start of the 2nd quarter was stunishing for CSKA – Viacheslav Zaitsev made UNICS lead to a maximum 17 points. However, the Army Team quickly gathered their strength and set off in pursuit. Joel Bolomboy and Iffe Lundberg started their team’s comeback attempt. CSKA began to return to the game, and although Lorenzo Brown tried to cool the hosts with a 3-pointer (11 points lead by UNICS), the Army Team responded with 9:0 run. The end of the 1st half fixed the minimum UNICS lead on the scoreboard – 42:41.

CSKA did not calm down. The start of the 3rd quarter was bad for the Kazan team again: Nikita Kurbanov and Daniel Hackett made two 3-pointers, Nikola Milutinov scored the mid-range shot – and after 8-0 run, the Army Team took the initnative. Despite Hackett performance (he scored 9 points in the quarter), UNICS managed not to let the hosts go far ahead. Isaiah Canaan answered Hackett’s performance with his 11 points. The teams went to the last break with the score 61:60 – CSKA led.

The key moment
In the 4th quarter, the rythm of the game was increased to the limit. The leader changed several times, and the main actions unfolded in the last minutes. Dmitrii Uzinskii scored the 3-pointer, and then, after an excellent defense by Zaitsev, sent Mario Hezonja into the fastbreak. 10 seconds before the end of the regulation, UNICS led by 2. However, then Hezonja fouled Grigonis. The Lithuanian guard scored both shots – overtime!

The key player of the first overtime was Hezonja, who scored 6 out of 8 UNICS points, and Grigonis, who let opponents to foul in the last seconds. He made both free-throw shots again, but Hezonja missed the shot wor the win. 2nd overtime! And he also did not reveal a winner. Canaan left the court with 5 fouls. And Hezonja got 4 fouls and was really close to get the 5th. To determine which team will lead the standings after this game, the 3rd overtime was supposed to be the 2nd time in the United League history.

The 3rd overtime of the best game of the season so far began with shots exchange by the key players of the game – Hezonja and Hackett. However, then CSKA made a hit to UNICS. Lundberg’s 2 made shots and Hackett’s 3-pointer helped CSKA to get 5-point lead. But UNICS was not ready to accept loss that evening. Velimir Perasovic’s timeout turn out to be very important – right after him Vorontsevich scored a bomb from behind the arc and Mario Hezonja draw the score twice. The last minute was overstressed. Neither Vorontsevich nor Hackett managed to score. The first 4th overtime in the history of the League came closer, but then the miracle came. 6 seconds before the final buzzer, Vorontsevich made a rebound after Hackett’s missed shot and gave it to O.J. Mayo.

The American guard managed to run the entire court and shoot a very difficult shot over Grigonis and Kurbanov hands. And it is in! There was no time left for CSKA respond. UNICS wins the most important game, takes revenge for the recent loss in the Euroleague and remains at the top of the standings.

Hero
Mario Hezonja. The Croat remained the main threat for the opponents throughout the game and showed what he can in overtimes. UNICS forward not only played his best game for the Kazan team, but also set career high. It is worth noting Daniel Hackett, who also gave out his career high.

Numbers
53. That’s how many minutes the motor and captain of UNICS John Brown III spent on the court. This is a new high for the United League. The previous one was recently set by Anthony Hickey – 51 minutes in the December game against PARMA, which also ended in the 3rd overtime.

Comments
Andreas Pistiolis, CSKA Coach:
– First of all, I would like to congratulate UNICS. It was a very exciting game for the fans. It’s exciting to see more such games in the United League, the League need that type of games, they attract attention to basketball. I think, we lost this game in the first quarter. This is the only thing that we need to use to prepare for the next games. Again, because the same thing happened against Efes. And it’s not about the lineups. On the other hand, we showed character, found the strength to fight and got back into the game. Once again, the game could have gone either way, but unfortunately didn’t go our way. 

Velimir Perasovic, UNICS Head Coach:
– This is an important win, because in the League now everyone is very close in the standings. During the game, we led by 17 points, but missed the lead and lost due to an injury of Lorenzo Brown. Nevertheless, in the second half we showed good basketball and had every chance to win in regulation, but missed our shots and fouled three times. This is the win of character that we deserve.

What’s next
CSKA: home game against Astana on February 13
UNICS: home game versus Einsey on February 13

Photo 07/02/2022 CSKA-UNICS 103:105 3OT