UNICS defeated Lokomotiv Kuban on the road in overtime of the Finals Game 4 – 90:88 OT (19-12, 29-20, 14-27, 19-22, 9-7).
Game progress
The streak, which started with Lokomotiv-Kuban’s win in Kazan, continued with 2 wins by UNICS. The Kazan team started the Game 4 well. Loko scored only 6 points in 7 minutes and the guests didn’t score a lot either, but still had more. Vince Hunter was effective in the paint and Daryl Macon backed him up, making the score 19:12 after 10 minutes.
The game hadn’t changed in the second quarter, but became more open. UNICS’s main advantage was three-pointers and excellent ball movement. The Kazan team led after the first half – 48:32.
In the third quarter, Loko organised a comeback. At the beginning, UNICS had a critical 21-point lead, but then the Krasnodar team had a 16-2 run. The hosts regained their intrigue before the fourth quarter – 59:62.
The sharpshooter competition continued in the fourth quarter. 2 threes by Jalen Barford tied the score with 2 minutes left – 75:75. Jalen Reynolds soon gave UNICS the lead, and the guests had a good chance to win, but DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell made a difficult three-pointer to tie the game. The Kazan team still had 8 seconds left, but Daryl Macon wasn’t able to score – overtime.
Key moment
UNICS lost Nenad Dimitrijevic and Marcos Knight due to foul trouble. The Kazan team played well in defense, while Vince Hunter became responsible for scoring and got 5 of the guests 9 points in overtime. Vince’s layup, just a minute before the end, became the key one – 90:87. Vladislav Emchenko made just 1 free throw, and Barford, after another important turnover by Macon, still missed a shot on a key possession – a dramatic win for UNICS.
The Series returns to Kazan with UNICS 3-1 lead.
Fact
One of the VTB League Finals game went into the overtime for the second time in history. The first was last season, when CSKA defeated Zenit in Game 4.
Key factor
Louis Labeyrie had his best scoring game of the Playoffs so far, 17 points on 6 out of 8 from the game. The French bigman efficiency helped UNICS to fix defense.
Leaders
Lokomotiv Kuban: Chris Horton (23 + 6 rebounds), Jalen Barford (22 + 5 rebounds), DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (16 + 7 rebounds + 5 assists).
UNICS: Jalen Reynolds (18 + 8 rebounds), Daryl Macon (18), Louis Labeyrie (17 + 7 rebounds), Vince Hunter (16 + 6 rebounds), Marcos Knight (13 + 5 rebounds).
Next game: May 16 in Kazan
