UNICS beat Enisey at home – 75:64 (25:26, 22:12, 14:13, 14:13).
Top scorers
UNICS: Jordan Morgan (13 + 7 rebounds), John Brown (11), Nate Walters (11 + 8 rebounds), Isaiah Canaan (11).
Enisey: Leyton Hammonds (17 + 7 rebounds), Mikhail Kulagin (16 + 5 rebounds), Kerron Johnson (16).
Story
Enisey became the first team of the League that fell into the coronavirus trap. They arrived to Kazan without head coach Drazen Anzulovich and 3 players – Ilia Popov, Artem Komissarov and Ivan Viktorov. However, the hosts played without John Holland and Pavel Antipov.
The game started with 3-point shootout. The teams’ headliners were Pavel Sergeev and Leyton Hammonds that made 3 threes each. Soon, Mikhail Kulagin joined the 3-point party. The guests’ guard scored 2 threes in a row that put Enisey up ahead. In the first quarter Krasnoyarsk hit 7 of 10 long range shots that let them gain the minimal lead – 26:25.
УНИКС и «Енисей» на двоих забили 11 трех в 1-й четверти | @unicsbasket and @BC_Enisey hit 11 threes in 1st Q:
Pavel Sergeev: 💣💣💣
Leyton Hammonds: 💣💣💣@MikeKulagin: 💣💣
Timofey Yakushin: 💣💣@SiP03: 💣 pic.twitter.com/505B6j57TY— VTB League (@VTBUL) October 25, 2020
In the second quarter Kazan started to play more aggressive in defense. This defense broke Enisey’s offense. Enisey were mistaking, forgot about opponent’s paint (4 points) and hardly scored each point. The hosts completely took over the game via their internationals. Strong run during the quarter (17-0) let UNICS take the comfortable lead back by the half time – 47:38. Slow position basketball remained in the third quarter, in 10 minutes the teams scored 27 points combined. Kazan were a little luckier, they finished the third with double-digit lead – 61:51.
There was no intrigue in the game. Jordan Morgan, Nate Walters and Isaiah Canaan accurate shots in the middle of the quarter increased UNICS’ lead to 17 points – 71:54. In the rest time the Siberians managed to slightly cut the lead, but they couldn’t do more.
Hero
It’s hard to highlight one hero among winners roster. All the internationals contributed a lot. Jordan Morgan looked more active than others a bit. The forward attacked the basket more often and became the top UNICS scorer (13 points). Moreover, the American made 7 rebounds (4 offensive).
Stat
37:9 – devastating UNICS lead in second chance points and points of turnovers was a key factor to the victory.
Comments
UNICS head coach Dimitrios Priftis:
– We had 10 days of break because of game cancellations. It has both sides of the medal. We improved our defense. We have to work harder on our offense. But the main thing that every team need is safety and stability.
Enisey acting head coach Pavel Dergachev:
– In the second quarter we couldn’t play without turnovers. We talked about it before the game. And we couldn’t show good defense losing defensive rebounds. We made 19 turnovers and allowed 20 offensive rebounds. We can’t afford it in games against such a contender as UNICS. When the team make so many mistakes there are no chances left to win.
Next
UNICS: November 1 vs Lokomtiv-Kuban
Enisey: November 1 vs CSKA
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