Zenit beat Astana at home – 95:79 (28:26, 19:15, 29:17, 19:21).
Game progress
The teams decided to please the fans with bright basketball from the start. Markell Johnson caught the courage. Astana guard scored 15 points in 10 minutes. But the hosts also had its heroes. Kyle Kuric and Thomas Heurtel combined for 18 points. The hosts had a lead after the first quarter – 28:26.
In the second quarter, the opponents lost momentum. At some point Johnson lost his magic, and Astana offense stopped. The St. Petersburg team started to miss three-pointers. As a result, the hosts had more rebounds, which helped to hold the lead. Second chance points allowed Zenit to increase the lead by the halftime – 47:41.
Key moment
In the second half, the hosts showed their class. Zenit took control of the game pace, started to play defense aggressively, and Heurtel and Kuric got involved in the offense once again. Kuric three-pointer ended the third quarter, bringing Zenit lead to 18 – 76:58.
The guests didn’t have enough energy for a comeback. The last quarter was quiet, and the St. Petersburg team got a confident win.
X-factor
Zenit rebounding dominance became the key in this game. The hosts made 20 more rebounds than their opponent (43-23). At the same time, the St. Petersburg team updated their season-high in total rebounds (43) and offensive rebounds (18).
Fact
For the second time this season, 2 players were able to score 30 or more points in the same game. After the epic shootout between Xavier Rathan-Mayes (38 points) and Kyle Vinales (35 points) in Saratov, Kyle Kuric and Markell Johnson accomplished this achievement today. Both players scored 30 points and set season-highs. For Astana guard, this was also the highest scoring VTB League game.
Leaders
Zenit: Kyle Kuric (30), Tomas Heurtel (19 + 11 assists), Vince Hunter (16 + 12 rebounds), Bojan Dubljevic (12).
Astana: Markell Johnson (30 + 7 assists + 5 rebounds), Royce Hamm (16 + 7 rebounds).
What’s next
Zenit (13-5): December 24 at home against Lokomotiv-Kuban
Astana (8-10): December 24 on the road against Avtodor.
