UNICS stopped Samara offense and won the 19th game of the season — 86:74 (19:22, 18:17, 28:18, 21:17).
Game progress
At the end of the last year, Samara had small decrease. But in January, Sergey Bazarevich team regained their good playing shape. So in the game with UNICS, the hosts had to compete with the obvious favorite.
The first minutes confirmed Samara motivation, the hosts took the lead. James Ennis made 5 of 7 shots from the game, scored 13 points and provided the hosts with a lead – 22:19.
The Kazan team tried to reverse the game with defense and Daryl Macon. But Samara, due to the individual skill of American legionnaires, still led. By the halftime, the hosts left with an advantage of 2 points – 39:37.
At the start of the third quarter, the guests tried to turn the game around by raising the pace. But run-and-gun basketball without defense did not bring any effect to UNICS. The Kazan team took the control the game with positional game. UNICS stopped Samara offense for 4 minutes and went from trailing by 1 to 7-point lead – 62:55.
Key moment
The hosts still tried to stay in the game. Maksim Sheleketo became the real joker. The experienced forward helped to activate team’s offense again at the end of the third quarter. But without the support of legionnaires, it was still not enough for comeback. At some point, the hosts were able to reduce the difference to 5 points – 65:70. But Macon turned on again. His made shots returned his team to a double-digit lead – 75:65, which allowed the guests to calmly get the win.
Key factor
UNICS defense helped to win again. At the decisive moment, the Kazan team almost completely turned off the opponent’s leaders from the game. For the last 14 minutes, Samara’s American legionnaires scored only 4 points.
Fact
UNICS got the 7th win in a row and remains the second best team in the League after CSKA.
Leaders
Samara: James Ennis (21 + 5 rebounds + 6 assists), Maksim Sheleketo (16), Marcos Knight (15 + 5 assists)
UNICS: Daryl Macon (20 + 5 assists), Louis Labeyrie (18 + 8 rebounds), Andrey Vorontsevich (11)
Next games
Samara: home game versus MINSK on January 19
UNICS: road game against Avtodor on January 19
