Week 21 in review: Krasnodar soldout, Zenit win with Pascual, Fridzon’s 2500 points

Spring’s getting hot in VTB United League!

CSKA beat Loko in 2nd place clash

Krasnodar hosted the game of the week: Lokomotiv-Kuban vs CSKA. The city went crazy about the game. Loko announced soldout, and eventually Baskethall reset season attendance record with 7304 spectators.

The court was hot as well: Loko and CSKA were practically competing for the 2nd place in the standings. Kuban (with their last win over CSKA dated season 2016/17) gained 10-points lead in the first half, but Mike James stepped out before the break:

The guests took control of the game in the second half, got the lead and won. Mike James and Kyle Hines were the heroes of that victory scoring 17 points in the 4th quarter.

Now Loko will have a hard time trying to get the second place back. Both teams have 5 regular season games left, and Kuban need to win 3 games more than CSKA.

Shot of the week

Vitaly Fridzon scored his 2500th point vs CSKA and became the second player to hit that number. The first one is Alexey Shved.

UNICS chasing the 3rd

Loko were too focused on CSKA and the 2nd place rivalry, so they let UNICS (ranked 4th) get really close. One victory is now between the teams and Kazan have 1 more game left.

It was a trip to Nizhny Novgorod that helped Dimitris Priftis’ side chase Loko. Having taken advantage of Nizhny’s roster problems, UNICS built a 20-point lead and won the derby of Volga. Kazan showed their second best scoring result this season with 95 points (no.1 was vs Zielona Gora with 100 points).

Guards duo McCollum – Theodore were the heroes of UNICS. McCollum was the top scorer (23 points) and Theodore hit most assists.

Xavier Pascual debutes with a win in Krasnoyarsk

Shortly before the All-Star and the nationals games, Zenit parted ways with Joan Plaza and signed another Spanish specialist Xavier Pascual.

In his League debut, Pascual led Zenit to a big road win over Enisey. Saint Petersburg gained 16-point lead already in the first quarter and despite short slumps got a confident win of 84:67.

Xavi Pascual was satisfied with his guys stating that “the team started well, gained a lead which helped gain confidence.” However, Zenit have traditionally been successful with Enisey. Krasnoyarsk haven’t won a single game in this rivalry.

Avtodor nearly punished Khimki

Avtodor’s play transformed into something confident under Donaldas Kayris. Last week, Saratov set season high points against Tsmoki (109:90), and this time were two shots away from a huge comeback in Moscow region.

Khimki struggled to stop the guests, but paced up before the halftime break and Alexey Shved marked 8-point lead:

The gap increased to 21 points in the third and it seemed like the game was over. However, Avtodor committed a comeback attempt. And they were led by the youngsters: Yegor Bestuzhev aced +/- rate this game (+18), and Aleksandr Petenev reminded the public who won the slam dunk contest.

Khimki retained the win, but Donaldas Kayris was glad, “I’m happy for the youth: they got their minutes and used it. I hope this game helps us improve our confidence and get better.”

Khimki are marching to win the regular season, while Avtodor still have chances for the playoffs. The Yellow-blues need to win 3 of the remaining 5 to secure the first place. Victory over CSKA next round will guarantee their status right on the spot.

Kalev break tradition in Kazakhstan

Nur-Sultan has always been one of the most challenging destinations for Kalev. The Estonians managed to get the only win in Kazakhstan capital in season 2016/17.

Last Sunday, Roberts Stelmahers’ team wrote history. Kalev won led by Kyle Vinales and Janari Joesaar as the duo scored 49 of team’s 83!

Now Kalev have chances for the second playoff in a row. With two victories in the regular season the Tallinners have advantage over Astana that would place them higher in case of tie-break situation.

Zielona Gora proves guest team status

Gora is one of League’s two teams who’s better in away games (Zenit’s the second). A victory over Tsmoki was the 5th road for Zielona Gora and the 8th in total. Zan Tabak’s side beat their last season wins record are close to get another achievement: the playoffs.

That was an impressive win. During the game the guests’ lead was as big as +16, and only final quarter’s looseness could lead to Dragons’ comeback.

Zielona Gora got the victory in Minsk but are still far from the playoffs. And the schedule is not the easiest: CSKA, Zenit and Khimki within the last 5 regular season games.

Top plays

Team of the week

Standings

7 weeks left in the regular season.

Schedule