The biggest stories from the past seven days in the League.
Heavyweights Collide
Coming out of the All-Star weekend, fans were treated to three regular-season showdowns featuring the League’s top five teams. Zenit started with a bang, dominating 1st-place CSKA in St. Petersburg. The Army Men bounced back by taking down Lokomotiv to remain in 1st. On Monday, Khimki defeated UNICS on the road.
CSKA has the League’s best record at 15-2, leading 14-3 Zenit by a game. Khimki and Lokomotiv are tied for 3rd place, 13-3, while 11-6 UNICS rounds out the top five.
Big Heart
Zenit forward Sergey Karasev decided to donate his 300,000 ruble winnings from the Three-Point Contest to Gosha Kutsenko’s Walk Together charity and Arianna Bukate.
Arianna suffers from cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia and delayed motor and mental development. The VTB United League and Walk Together began raising money for her treatment in January.
Streak
With the win over Astana on Wednesday, Lokomotiv-Kuban set a new club record in the VTB United League with 13 consecutive victories. Krasnodar won 12 in a row during the 2015-16 season.
Snapped
Lokomotiv set the record on Wednesday, only to see the streak snapped on Sunday. CSKA took down red-hot Lokomotiv in one of the best games of the regular season, dealing Kuban its first loss in 113 days. The Army Men were also able to avenge a loss in Krasnodar earlier in the season and deal Sasa Obradovic his first defeat in the League.
Old School
Turnaround
UNICS had lost eight straight prior to the game in Nizhny Novgorod: four each in the League and Euroleague. Last season’s runners-up were aggressive from the opening tip, scoring 112 points to secure a much-needed road win. That’s a new season-high for points and Kazan’s 2nd-most in club history.
Astana has drawn a lot of compliments from opposing coaches this season. Ilias Papatheodorou is getting the most out of his squad in every game, putting the Kazan club in position for a playoff spot.
The club had lost five in a row entering Sunday’s game in Minsk, derailed by a brutal calendar. But the streak came to an end against Tsmoki as Astana rolled to an 80-70 victory.
Revenge
Zenit lost by 49 points to CSKA in the first meeting of the season. Embarrassed by the result, the club had plenty of motivation entering the game on Thursday.
Head coach Vasily Karasev: “After the blowout defeat in Moscow, we prepared and approached this game with a lot of intensity.”
Zenit led by 15 in the first half, going up by as much as 26 in the second half. CSKA did manage to avoid setting a club record for biggest margin of defeat (-19), ultimately losing by 13.
Alley-Oop
Teamwork
Zenit built on the win against CSKA with a tough road victory in Nizhny Novgorod. St. Petersburg displayed impressive teamwork in the win, the club’s 8th in a row, dishing out 32 assists.
Domination
Sparked by Alexey Shved’s big night in the All-Star Game, Khimki put together a fantastic week on the court, scoring 118 points in Saratov and 98 in Kazan to win twice. Avtodor and UNICS are relieved to be done with Khimki, getting outscored by 41 and 42 points, respectively, in two meetings this season.
Road Trip
Nizhny Novgorod is still fighting for a playoff spot, but needs to win some road games to keep its hopes alive. The Black-Whites picked up their first win away from home last Monday, defeating Kalev. It had been 351 days since Nizhny last won on the road in the League, coincidentally, also a win in Tallinn against Estonia’s Kalev.
Run
Kalev proved very hospitable this week. A few days after Nizhny’s visit, the Estonians fell to another playoff hopeful, Enisey Krasnoyarsk. It’s been a rough start to a key five-game homestand for Kalev.
Krasnoyarsk has now won three straight, matching the team’s biggest winning streak this season.
Stat
227 – number of points scored by Khimki and Avtodor (118-109) in Saratov, a new League record.
The old mark was set by Tsmoki-Minsk and Krasny Oktyabr during the 2013-14 season (225 points).
Quote
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Sasa Obradovic:
– We were playing against champions who always know how to take advantage in various situations. They showed that in the 3rd quarter. It sounds like a simple explanation, but we got a little reliant on going one-on-one and didn’t create good shots. Sometimes it depends on you. Sometimes other guys are simply more athletic and have a higher basketball IQ.
Stars
Stefan Markovic (Zenit)
Markovic did something few guards have been able to accomplish: outsmart CSKA’s defense. Playing against the Army Men, the Serb finished with 19 points and nine assists.
Nando De Colo (CSKA)
An ability to draw fouls has become more and more important in the modern game. Against a hard-nosed Loko squad, De Colo was able to draw contact in big moments, finishing with 21 points on 11-11 shooting from the free-throw line.
Alexey Shved (Khimki)
24+7+12 in Saratov and 31+6 in Kazan. No one told Shved the All-Star Game was over. Keep doing work, Alexey.
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