The biggest news from around the League this week.
Derby
CSKA and Khimki’s famed Leningradka Derby was missing two of the League’s biggest stars. Nando De Colo has been out since November, but Khimki got bad news leading up to the game: Alexey Shved wouldn’t be able to play due to illness.
CSKA took advantage, charging to a 28-14 lead in the 1st quarter. Moscow Region made a brief comeback in the 3rd quarter, closing the deficit to four points, but CSKA responded with deadly three-point shooting to close out a win. The Army Men have now won nine straight in the series and remain tied for 1st place with UNICS.
Series
Khimki and Lokomotiv-Kuban each had seven-game winning streaks entering the weekend. Khimki’s luck ran out on Sunday, but Krasnodar kept rolling with a dramatic late-game victory in St. Petersburg. Coupled with a win over CSKA in early December, Loko is the hottest team in the League right now.
Return
Less than three weeks after moving to UNICS on loan, center Artem Klimenko returned to Saratov with his new team. Back on his old court, the 2015-16 Young Player of the Year only played seven minutes, but took full advantage, putting up eight points on 3-3 shooting to go with two rebounds and one assist.
Avtodor fans probable missed Klimenko and his size most in the final minutes of the game. UNICS center Artsiom Parakhouski scored six straight points down the stretch with no one on the home team able to slow him down.
Dunk
Recovery
UNICS only had one day between Thursday’s home game vs. Baskonia and Saturday’s visit to Avtodor. To make matters even worse, the team’s flight was delayed on Friday, meaning UNICS didn’t arrive until late in the evening.
Given the circumstances, Evgeny Pashutin decided to cancel pre-game practice and let his men recover. “We played a tough game on Thursday against Baskonia and didn’t get to our hotel until late on Friday. We were on the court by 3 pm on Saturday. We didn’t even have time to prepare for Avtodor. We let the players get a good night of sleep,” – said Pashutin.
Record
Prior to Sunday, Nizhny Novgorod had only won once, on November 6. Win #2 proved a cathartic experience, as the team blasted winless Parma for 115 points, a new franchise record. That’s also a new season-high for points in the League, topping Lokomotiv’s 107 vs. VEF.
Quote
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Arturs Stalbergs was in a good mood after the win: “We played like Golden State, although they get 48 minutes to score 115 points and we only get 40. I’m joking, of course.”
Rest
CSKA center Joel Freeland described what he likes to do in his free time. No basketball, anyway.
“At home, I like playing shooter games: Medal of Honor and Battlefield. Basketball video games? I don’t get that at all. My life’s already packed with basketball from morning to evening. It’s my job. I don’t have any desire to come home and play a game about my job. I want a little variety. At the same time, I don’t care if guys want to watch games all day long. I’m just not that way.”
Flight
Stat
0 – number of points scored by Zenit in the final 3:55 vs. Lokomotiv. St. Petersburg erased a 14-point deficit in the second half and even took the lead, but Krasnodar’s defense held firm at the end.
Trend
Stars
Suleiman Braimoh (Enisey)
Braimoh had a solid shooting night against Tsmoki (4-7), but he was even better at the free-throw line. The big man drew seven fouls and sank all 12 free-throw attempts to lead his team to victory against a fellow playoff hopeful.
Ivan Strebkov (Nizhny Novgorod)
A double-double with points and assists (20+12) and the League’s highest efficiency rating (33) belonged to Nizhny Novgorod’s Ivan Strebkov.
Milos Teodosic (CSKA)
“Extreme fatigue” didn’t prevent the Serb from compensating for De Colo’s continued absence and guiding his team to victory: 16 points, nine assists, and 6-7 from the field.
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