UNICS made a comeback at home and in the last seconds stole the win from Pari Nizhny Novgorod, getting the 9th win in a row and the 21st of the season — 86:85 (20:23, 18:23, 25:26, 23:13).
Game progress
The Kazan team had 98 th win in a row, but before the game became known that Velimir Perasovic missed the game due to illness, and one of the key UNICS players Jalen Reynolds was absent.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod started the game very active. Zoran Lukic team led 15:8. Daryl Macon’s 6 points helped the hosts to equalise the score by the end of the quarter, but Evgenii Baburin closed the first quarter with a three-pointer. In the second quarter, Nizhny Novgorod only developed their lead. The Kazan team made only 1 three-pointer in a quarter. The end of the first half, Nikola Rebic made Steph Curry look-like three-point shot. By the halftime, Nizhny Novgorod already had a solid lead — 46:38.
At the beginning of the second half, Daryl Macon’s 5 points seemed to give UNICS some confidence, but then Pari NN made an 11:2 run. The guests lead became double-digit – 61:48. The guests held the initiative, stopped UNICS to make attempts for a comeback.
Key moment
In the fourth quarter, the Kazan team made big run and took the lead. The last minute of the game was clutch. With equal score, Evgenii Baburin was close to becoming the hero of the game — 84:82 after NN captain made shot.
But UNICS replied. Daryl Macon, who had a fantastic game, made a great move and scored a difficult three-pointer 7 seconds before the end. 86:85 UNICS led! Zoran Lukic had to take a timeout, but Nizhny Novgorod failed to play a saving combination – Aleksandr Chadov missed his shot.
UNICS gets the 9th win in a row and still does not allow Nizhny Novgorod to beat the Kazan team at home.
Key factor
UNICS defense. One of the most effective defensive lines in the United League allowed Nizhny a lot for three quarters, letting score more than 23 points in each. However, in the fourth quarter, the Kazan team allowed the opponent to score only 13 points.
Fact
Daryl Macon not only scored the winning shot, but also got the season high with the 30-point performance. Before that, the American’s best result this season was 27 points against Enisey. This is the second result in the 2022/23 season after Angelo Warner’s 32 points. In addition, Macon is the second player in UNICS who managed to score 30 or more points in one game this season (Jalen Reynolds was the first).
Leaders
UNICS: Daryl Macon (31 + 3 steals), Louis Labeyrie (18), Nenad Dmitrijevic (9 + 5 assists)
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Maksim Salash (17), Evgenii Baburin (14 + 6 assists), Dmitrii Khvostov (11 + 6 assists), Nikola Rebic (10 + 5 assists)
Next games
UNICS: home game against Lokomotiv Kuban on February 2
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: home game versus CSKA on February 2
