Lokomotiv-Kuban beat CSKA in the VTB United League championship match
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In the central match of the week of the VTB United League regular championship, CSKA hosted Lokomotiv-Kuban. The confrontation between the army and railway workers justified its status as perhaps the most interesting game not only of the tour, but of the entire month. Once again the outcome of the match between these two teams was decided in the last seconds, and again Krasnodar were luckier, winning with a score of 91:88 and thus breaking CSKA’s nine-game winning streak. However, this did not prevent the latter from maintaining first place in the standings.
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Alexander Sekulich, answering the question about what is most important for his team in the upcoming meeting with CSKA, noted that it is extremely important to get the army team out of a state of comfort. A fair remark, considering how well-functioning the team Emil Rajkovic has built. Even after the departure of Nikola Milutinov and Alexey Shved in the off-season, and during the championship also Nikita Kurbanov, CSKA did not at all lose its signature ability to methodically, as if according to a pre-approved schedule, harass the opponent, ultimately forcing him to capitulate. The actions of the army players show excellent coordination, training, and a solid reserve of self-confidence. Hence the nine wins in a row since the beginning of the regular season (CSKA, until Sunday, was the only team in the league that had never lost a game this season). Some non-standard measures are really needed against such a machine. This is what Sekulic meant when he talked about destroying the army’s comfort zone.
The question, however, was how Lokomotiv-Kuban was going to surprise CSKA. On the one hand, the vice-champions of last season retained their composition. On the other hand, in the current championship they have given fans many reasons for pessimism, having already lost in five matches. Moreover, to teams that are obviously inferior to them in class.
But CSKA, apparently, is a particularly acute irritant for the Krasnodar residents, and therefore Lokomotiv-Kuban actually performed better than expected in Moscow.
The recipe was quite simple. Tightest defensive play, even at the cost of violations (Krasnodar’s aggressive defense led to CSKA scoring 27 points from free throws, which is almost three times more than the opponent’s score) and good execution of three-point shots. Let us note that Lokomotiv-Kuban’s attacks from a distance have not been convincing this season. In terms of the percentage of long-range attempts made, the team was among the worst in the league (in fact, it remains third from bottom to this day). But in the game against the army team, the Krasnodar snipers finally woke up.
Already at the beginning of the match, Okaro White made four three-pointers in a row, which allowed the guests to increase their lead to double digits. But it was clear that CSKA would survive this blow. The hosts actually returned to the game quite quickly, but Devon Akun-Purcell prevented them from getting into a comfortable mode. In three minutes he scored 10 points. Rajkovic’s team again had to think about how to win back a significant 11-point deficit. Moreover, after the long break he even reached 15 points.
And if it weren’t for Casper Ware, who finally adjusted his aim, CSKA could have completely lost control of the situation.
Plus, Melo Trimble also played very reliably, and Livio Jean-Charles did his job properly under the boards.
But as soon as CSKA adapted to White’s play (the most productive player of the match – 23 points), and understood how to more or less neutralize Acuna-Purcell, the guests had a new hero – Jaylen Burford. During the first half of the match, he often fell out of the game. But at the right moment I woke up. So much so that it became a factor that decided the outcome of the ending. His mid-range shot, unfashionable in modern basketball, at the end of the match gave the guests a three-point lead. The army had time for one attack, but it was unsuccessful. Lokomotiv-Kuban won with a score of 91:88 and broke CSKA’s nine-game winning streak. Let us note that the army team has not been able to beat the Krasnodar team for three meetings. They lost to them in the seventh game of the semi-final series last season, lost in the pre-season Super Cup of the league and now they were beaten in the regular season.
However, the match result did not greatly affect the position of the teams in the standings. CSKA remained first and is ahead of UNICS in second place (the Kazan team was stronger than Parma on Sunday – 87:77). Lokomotiv-Kuban moved up one step and is now sixth.
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