What a week in the VTB United League!
300 Saratovians. Avtodor snaps Loko’s super streak
“We’ve either led by 20 points, or trailed by as many, numerous times this season. At some point, we were going to get caught,” Sasa Obradovic said after the game.
But no one thought it would happen to Loko at home vs. Avtodor. Saratov was playing without Shaq McKissic and Branden Frazier, plus Artem Klimenko had to leave early in the game with an injury. The visitors were essentially playing with six men against 1st-place Lokomotiv, which entered with an 11-game winning streak in the League and 26 straight wins overall, including EuroCup and Russian Cup competition.
At halftime, Krasnodar held a comfortable 13-point lead thanks to a late 2nd-quarter surge. The game looked like it was over, but the visitors had a surprise in store.
Justin Robinson got Avtodor back into the contest. The 173-cm American guard was the hero for Avtodor, even setting up Maxim Sheleketo for his sensational game-winning 3 at the buzzer!
Sheleketo capitalized on the opportunity, but Avtodor never would have a chance to win the game without Robinson’s brave leadership in the Basket Hall. Avtodor springs the upset on Krasnodar and knocks Lokomotiv out of 1st place in the standings!
Not in my house! CSKA extends its dominance over Khimki
The Army Men lost starting center Othello Hunter in the opening minutes of the game. With Kyle Hines and Pavel Korobkov also unavailable, Dimitris Itoudis was forced to scramble. But like the coach said following the win, “We felt comfortable in an uncomfortable situation.”
The Leningradka derby is becoming more and more lopsided. The Red-Blues have now won 15 in a row vs. Khimki, including European competition. Nothing could stop the Army Men vs. visiting Moscow Region, not even injuries or being forced to go small. The home team controlled the pace of the game before blowing the score wide open in the 4th quarter. Khimki’s hopes of a top-four finish are fading, while CSKA continues to compete for a regular-season title.
VEF: Moving on up
VEF Latvia was stuck in no-man’s land for several months. Playing with very few international players this season, Riga struggled to find its identity on offense, sometimes bombing away from the perimeter, other times working through the post.
The New Year has been much kinder to Janis Gailitis’s squad. Two consecutive wins, including a victory in Krasnoyarsk last week, pulled VEF out of the league cellar and salvaged the team’s postseason aspirations. Only one win separates 7th from 13th place in the standings, giving the Latvian club plenty of reason for optimism.
Career day for Evgeny Voronov in Zenit’s win over Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny’s Zoran Lukic reminded everyone why his teams are so dangerous in the VTB United League, pushing Zenit to the limit in St. Petersburg on Saturday. Luckily for Vasily Karasev, Russian guard Evgeny Voronov scored a career-high 23 points. He was the primary threat on offense for the Blue-White-Sky Blues and even earned an All-Star invite with his performance, replacing injured Avtodor center Artem Klimenko on the Russian Stars roster.
Free throws also played a major role in the outcome. Nizhny Novgorod missed four freebies down the stretch, while January MVP Sergey Karasev delivered two big baskets, including the game-winner, after struggling to find his rhythm most of the game.
UNICS takes over 1st place
Kazan isn’t flashy, but almost always wins thanks to smart execution, gritty defense and selfless teamwork. Now UNICS is in 1st place, courtesy of recent Lokomotiv and CSKA defeats.
In the game vs. Tsmoki-Minsk, Kazan took control from the opening tip, seizing a 25-4 lead in the 1st quarter. The Tatar club had no trouble holding onto the lead over the final three quarters.
