CSKA defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban and caught up with UNICS
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In the central match of the week of the VTB United League regular season, CSKA hosted Lokomotiv-Kuban. After a not very successful start to the match, the army team managed to rally and win with a score of 86:73 and again equaled on points with UNICS in first place. Krasnodar remained in fourth position.
The regular championship of the VTB United League, which is only a couple of weeks away from completion, has recently become more and more reminiscent of a racing race, in which there are two obvious and two shadow leaders. The first category includes UNICS and CSKA, the second category is Zenit and Lokomotiv-Kuban. At the same time, the gap between the categories is so small, and the level of play demonstrated by them is so close, that predicting the winner of the race for the status of regular season champion is extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Back in early March, after the Kazan team took first place, beating CSKA in additional indicators, it seemed that these two giants would calmly compete for first place. A little later, after UNICS took clear first place, it seemed that Velimir Perasovich’s team would definitely not relinquish the lead, given the stability of the Kazan team. In fact, UNICS and CSKA began to misfire (both Kazan and Muscovites lost three times in their last five matches), which only added spice to the championship. As a result, after UNICS lost again to Parma on Saturday (the Permians beat the current title holder for the third time this season; no one has ever managed this in the current championship), it turned out that CSKA has a a chance to catch up with the Kazan team again. As for the Krasnodar team, the victory in Moscow returned them to the top 3 of the championship and only one victory away from second place.
The railroad workers, contrary to custom, did not start the match with a buildup, which often forces them to chase their opponents later. Alexander Sekulic’s team started with several successful attacks by Devon Akun-Purcell, a little later he was joined by Andrei Martyuk, and Jaylen Burford, who usually wakes up towards the end of the game, suddenly had an uncharacteristically cheerful period. But the most important thing that Lokomotiv-Kuban did happened, perhaps, not in attacks, but in the fight for the ball. The railwaymen took twelve rebounds under their ring in the first half of the match. Under the army there are nine more. For comparison: CSKA had a total of nine rebounds in two quarters, only three of which were offensive. Such a solid advantage in second chances could not but affect the course of the match. Plus, the guests “surrounded” Melo Trimble, who, in the absence of Casper Ware (the army leader will return to duty after injury no earlier than three weeks), acts as the brain of the team. The encirclement turned out to be effective because Trimble was almost prevented from making field goals and his assists were greatly hampered. As a result, the guests went into the long break with an eight-point lead.
It was obvious that CSKA would come out for the second half of the match much angrier and more collected. And so it happened. Less than three minutes had passed since the game restarted, and almost nothing was left of the hosts’ deficit. Largely because the railroad workers were no longer able to contain Trimble as effectively as before. And Olivier Hanlan has found his rhythm. In general, CSKA coach Emil Raikovich can be given a big plus for the work done during the break. After all, his team won the third quarter with a clear advantage – 32:16! As a result, the hosts turned “minus eight” into “plus eight”, and Aleksandar Sekulic had to figure out how to pull out the game. However, he did not have any suitable ideas. In the final quarter, the army team only increased their advantage. After it approached 20 points as a result of another successful attack by Trimble, it became clear that the Krasnodar team could not save the game.
CSKA won with a score of 86:73 (for Raikovich it was the 100th anniversary victory in the VTB United League) and again equaled UNICS in points, to which it is inferior only in additional indicators. Lokomotiv-Kuban remained fourth and is one win behind Zenit.
VTB United League Championship. Second phase
CSKA—Lokomotiv-Kuban 86:73.
Tournament table
I V P % points
Group A
1. UNICS 34 25 9 74
2. CSKA 34 25 9 74
3. Zenit 33 23 10 70
4. Lokomotiv-Kuban 33 22 11 67
5. Parma 33 19 14 58
6. “Yenisei” 33 17 16 52
Group B
1. Uralmash 36 22 14 61
2. “Samara” 36 20 16 56
3. Avtodor 36 17 19 47
4. MBA 36 15 21 42
5. “Rune” 36 14 22 39
6. Nizhny Novgorod 36 12 24 33
7. “Astana” 36 12 24 33
8. “Minsk” 36 1 35 3
Group A is played by the teams that took the first six places at the end of the first stage, in Group B – those that took places from 7th to 14th. The points scored in the first stage are taken into account.
Group A teams guaranteed themselves participation in the playoffs. The four best teams in Group B based on the results of the second stage will play in the play-in stage for the two remaining places in the play-offs. The quarterfinal series will go up to three victories, and the semifinals and finals will go up to four.
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