UNICS defeated CSKA Moscow at home – 69:64 (13:18, 19:18, 15:14, 22:14).
The best scorers:
UNICS: Isaiah Canaan (25), Mario Hezonja (21 + 6 rebounds), Lorenzo Brown (8 + 7 assists).
CSKA: Iffe Lundberg (15), Will Clyburn (15), Tornike Shengelia (11 + 7 rebounds), Joel Bolomboy (8).
Game progress
The two last season finalists approached the face-to-face game as the leaders of the current standings, having the same W-L balance (4-1). At the same time, CSKA had 4 losses in a row and UNICS lost to ASVEL last week. One of the most important games at the start of the season began in the playoff mode: the rivals imposed a tough battle, focusing on defense. The red and blue turned out especially well – Kazan scored the first points from free-throws only in the middle of the 1st quarter, when the guests led 8-0. Experiencing difficulties in offnence, UNICS still found an option – Isaiah Canaan, who scored 10 points in the time remaining before the end of the debut quarter and kept the team in game – 13:18.
Lorenzo Brown protects the Kazan Basket-Hall's rim 😤 pic.twitter.com/SJ76SJnxof
— VTB League (@VTBUL) November 7, 2021
The start of the next quarter was again dictated by CSKA and by their leaders – October MVP Iffe Lundberg and Will Clyburn. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, the Army team had a double-digit lead (31:19), but UNICS again managed to turn the course of the game. Canaan was still good, who scored effective lay-ups, and Mario Hezonja also joined in – he managed to especially showed himself in the last minute. The Croat performed a spectacular dunk after the steal, and a few seconds turned the ball over. By the halftime, UNICS came close to a distance of 4 points – 32:36.
The first minutes after the change of sides were again left for CSKA: 3-pointers by Nikita Kurbanov and Tornike Shengelia – 42:32. UNICS managed to keep the main essence of the first half and get back in the battle. The Kazan team responded with the same way. After long-range shots by Hezonja and Canaan, the less resultative third quarter ended with the Moscow team lead – 50:47.
😍 assist by @SiP03
3️⃣ by @mariohezonja pic.twitter.com/iswAgRasK8— VTB League (@VTBUL) November 7, 2021
At the very beginning of the final quarter, CSKA played without Daniel Hackett, in addition to Ivan Ukhov, lost Alexander Khomenko. UNICS also did not miss the opponent’s run this time, so the two teams staged a sniper shootout, which flowed into the equal chances ending.
The key moment
CSKA lost confidence in the last minutes during each of the previous quarters, a similar situation was repeated in the decisive one. 3 minutes 44 seconds before the buzzer, Tornike Shengelia scored twice from the free-throw line, putting the team ahead – 64:63. But these were their last points of the game. UNICS took the lead with Canaan and Hezonja sgots, the Army team relied on 3-pointers, but Clyburn, Shengelia and Lundberg failed to hit them. In the last minute, Tonye Jekiri got 2 important rebounds and set the final score with his free-throws – 69:64.
UNICS eventually broke 5 losses streak from CSKA in the League and topping the standings. The Army team, who for the first time got five losses in a row under Dimitis Itoudis coaching (taking into account the Euroleague), dropped out of the Top-3.
Hero
Isaiah Canaan. A very important role in UNICS win was played by Hezonja, who started unsuccessfully, but significantly increased along the way. Canaan also turned on the maximum skills from the first quarter, keeping the fuse for the whole game. Isaiah became the most resultative (25 points) and the most effective (27 points) among the winning team.
Numbers
0 – Alexey Shved made 7 shots from the field and 2 from the line, but missed all of them and for the first time since returning from the NBA finished the League game with zero points.
During his entire career in the League, he only finished with zero points twice: in 2009 against Zalgiris (he spent 4 minutes on the court) and in 2011 against Dnipro (2 minutes).
Comments
Velimir Perasovic, UNICS Head Caoch:
– I think we started very badly, without confidence, unsuccessfully acted in offence. CSKA took the lead very quickly. Throughout the game we tried to catch up with them and, fortunately, we succeeded in the end. It was a defensive game, which turned out to be in our favor. But if we want to win important games on the road, then we need to do better in offence.
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA Head Coach:
– It was a close game, in which we had a lead most of the time – 35 minutes and 12 seconds, as you can see in the stats. Congratulations to UNICS, they managed to get the win. They shoot better from three-point line, used isolations and open looks. We did not make some open shots and turned the ball over too much that let the opponents use the open court. Turnovers were our main problem in the first half, we were giving away too much points in the offensive transition. We are still in the process of restarting, getting our injured players back after injuries. We keep believing in what we do and the wins will come.
What’s next
UNICS: home game versus Astana on November 14
CSKA: road game against Lokomotiv Kuban on December 5
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