UNICS moves up to 1st place after win in Nizhny Novgorod

UNICS moves up to 1st place after win in Nizhny Novgorod

UNICS beat Pari Nizhny Novgorod on the road – 87:67 (23:18, 26:21, 22:17, 16:11).

Game progress
Pari NN started the game with confidence and took the lead, but the guests quickly regained with Tony Taylor and Andrey Lopatin efforts. The Kazan team gradually took the initiative by being more careful with the ball and finishing. Pari NN relied on three-point shots, increasing the number of attempts. The main problem was the poor start of Zach Nutall, who led the League in January in scoring. The guard missed all 5 of his attempts and finished the first half without scoring a point. The hosts stayed in the game with help of Nemanja Djurisic, who made 6 of 7 shots and scored 15 points by halftime. However, DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell three-pointer in the final seconds of the second quarter allowed UNICS to get double-digit lead.

The game didn’t change after the break. The Kazan team took a 5-point lead in each of 3 quarters and started the final one with huge score differencial.

Key moment
Most of the final quarter was a tightly contested game. The hosts attempts to pick up the pace resulted in turnovers. The final quarter were the least scoring, but still ended with a 5-point difference.

UNICS moved into first place in the VTB League standings with a 25-5 record.

X-factor
Pari NN attempted 10 more three-pointers than the opponent, but finished the game with the same number of long-range shots made (10).

The Volga team problem was the poor performance of Zach Nutall, who ended up scoring 3 points with 1 of 9 field-goal shots.

Facts
UNICS repeats the club’s all-time high 14 consecutive wins, which was set in the 2015/16 season.

Jalen Reynolds played his 150th game in the VTB League. Among American players, only Kyle Hines has more games in the League (193).

Ismael Bako scored the 500th point in the  VTB League.

Leaders
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Nemanja Djurisic (17 + 6 rebounds), Aleksandr Khomenko (11 + 5 assists), Artem Antipov (11 + 6 rebounds).
UNICS: Tony Taylor (17), Marcos Knight (14 + 7 assists), Andrey Lopatin (11), Dmitry Kulagin (11).

What’s next
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: February 6 on the road versus Avtodor.
UNICS: February 5 on the road against PARMA.