UNICS beat Zenit away with a score of 93:83
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In the central match of the VTB United League regular championship week, the champions of the last two seasons, Zenit and UNICS, met. The fate of the confrontation was decided only at the last minute. UNICS won with a score of 93:83 and continued the pursuit of CSKA, the leader in the championship. Zenit, and for him this is already the fourth defeat in eight games, dropped to seventh place.
In the central match of the VTB United League championship week, the champion of the season before last (Zenit) and the winner of the championship of the previous season (UNICS) met. Let us note that the St. Petersburg and Kazan teams have a long and interesting history of confrontation in recent seasons, not limited only to regular season games, but also continuing in the play-off matches. It is not surprising that in the last two seasons alone, Zenit and UNICS have met 17 times. Including twice in the semi-final series.
Zenit did not approach the game in the best condition. It was not only the team’s results during the season (four wins in seven matches), but also the fact that specifically for the game against UNICS, St. Petersburg coach Javi Pascual had to attract players from the farm club. Zenit already had enough injured players (Thomas Oertel, Georgy Zhbanov, Denis Zakharov), and then Adrien Moerman and Sergei Toropov were also injured. But even taking into account the reservists, Pascual failed to assemble a full-fledged squad of 12 people. There were only eleven people in his application, nine actually played.
However, UNICS head coach Velimir Perasovich did not have unlimited opportunities to pressure the enemy with rotation. Moreover, in Sunday’s game he actually used eight basketball players, the remaining four either did not appear on the court at all or spent less than a minute on it.
Another thing is that UNICS has its leaders in order, but it is monstrously difficult for Zenit to do without the same Ertel, who builds all the team’s attacks.
But, despite all the difficulties, the match worked out. Zenit, with the support of its audience, held on well, but it was still felt that UNICS had more reserves. Nevertheless, in the first quarter, equality remained on the court, which was only broken by a three-point shot by Nenad Dimitrievic at the siren. But UNICS clung to this tiny lead, gradually even increasing it. Yes, Zenit responded with attacks performed by Sergei Karasev and Kyle Kuric, Vince Hunter and Andrey Zubkov. But if in attack the hosts were doing more or less tolerably, then in defense they could not figure out how to stop the same Dimitrievich, or Dmitry Kulagin, or Ismael Bako, or Marcus Knight. The last two especially annoyed the owners. The first – by playing in the paint, the second (Knight is the most productive player of the meeting with 22 points to his credit) – by rapid runs under the hoop, which often had to be stopped in violation of the rules.
By the end of the second quarter, UNICS was ahead by seven points. In the third, I made the advantage double-digit, and it remained so until the start of the final ten minutes. But Pascual still assembled a team for it. Twice Zenit fought back in defense, twice Sergei Karasev was accurate from distance (once scoring with a foul), and soon, after a free kick by Hunter, the hosts even took the lead. However, Zenit failed to cling to the leadership.
The players of the St. Petersburg team were either tired or nervous, but UNICS was more reliable in the decisive moments.
Even despite the fact that he finished the match without Bako and without Jalen Reynolds (both Kazan big men left the court due to too many fouls). Zenit missed the last chance to save the match at the last minute. If Karasev had hit from range, the score would have been level. But he didn’t hit. But Dimitrievich realized his pass, a very difficult one, by the way, and actually decided the fate of the match.
UNICS won with a score of 93:83 and continued the pursuit of CSKA, the leader in the championship. The army team, we note, is the only one who has never lost (the Kazan team has one defeat). As for Zenit, with a record of four wins in eight games, it dropped from fifth to seventh place.
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