On April 23, the final matches of the quarterfinals of the VTB United League playoffs began. If the day before the fight did not work out and CSKA and Zenit defeated their rivals (Yenisei and Uralmash, respectively), this time all the pairs delighted the fans with a brilliant game.
UNICS – Samara
Nenad Dimitrijevic, Jalen Reynolds
Photo: Ksenia Bogdanova, BC UNICS
VTB United League. 1/4 final
Tuesday, April 23, 2024. 19:00 Moscow time
Samara
Samara
UNICS: Green – 20, Bako – 18, Dimitrievich – 11, Knight – 10, Reynolds – 9, Belenitsky – 6, Zaitsev – 4, Vorontsevich – 3, Labery – 2, Tikhonenko, Stulenkov, Odinokov
Samara: Thompson – 13, Hawkins – 12, Roberson – 11, Rebic – 10, Zagorac – 7, Gudumak – 6, M. Kulagin – 6, Umrikhin – 5, Viktorov – 3, Zverev, Dalton, Amosov
The day in EL began with UNICS and Samara, who arrived in Kazan. This season the teams met twice and in the end exchanged victories. Therefore, fans had every right to expect a close fight this time as well. And they really understood it. From the beginning, the rivals made it clear that each of them was more than serious. The opposing team, as a rule, responded to the points scored by the opponents with its own effective actions. Samara’s maximum four-point lead was quickly equaled by Kazan. And in the second ten minutes they were already winners (17:16).
The video is available on the United League YouTube channel. The rights to the video belong to the RFB.
The second quarter began with a 4:0 lead by UNICS. The home team began to appear much more confident, reduced the number of losses (there were four in the first four minutes alone) and little by little began to reinforce its advantage. At the end of the seventh minute UNICS’ lead reached 10 points (37:27). And yet, Drazen Anzulovic’s team was in no hurry to give up: Javonta Hawkins’ three-pointer, as well as two points from Hawkins himself and Justin Roberson, allowed Samara to stay in the game. With a score of 40:34 in favor of the locals, the teams went to a long break.
If after the second ten minutes the Kazan team suddenly began to think that they would still win the game, at the beginning of the third quarter the guests did everything to make these thoughts quickly disappear from them. Two accurate shots from the perimeter by Nikola Rebic and Hawkins allowed Samara to get closer to the defending champions (40:41). However, very soon the Kazan team achieved an impressive breakthrough (11-0), as a result of which the question of the winner of the match was resolved. 64:50 before the fourth minute, the loser could hardly recover.
Jalen Reynolds
Photo: Ksenia Bogdanova, BC UNICS
And yet the guests tried. Thanks to Rebic’s accurate shot from behind the arc and Roberson’s two points in the last ten minutes, they made it clear that they would not be waving the white flag. Periodically the difference of the Samara team was reduced to eight points, but the guests could not do more. Velimir Perasovic’s team won the match in the class (83:73) and took the lead in the series.
In the end a remarkable episode occurred that demonstrated the spirit of the Samara residents. Kazan guard Nenad Dimitrievich was calmly dribbling the ball, waiting for the final siren, when suddenly Samara player Yuri Umrikhin “robbed” him, sending an exact three-pointer into the home team’s basket one second before the end of the game. Dimitrievich, upset, clearly did not appreciate the action of his opponent and went to him to fix things.
Nenad Dimitrijevic settles things with his opponent
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
The best performance of the winners was shown by defenseman Eric Green, who scored 20 points off the bench. Among the starting eleven, the best was Ismael Bako (18 points, to which he added four rebounds). Samara’s starters showed almost identical numbers: James Thompson scored 13 points, Javonta Hawkins had 12, Justin Roberson had 11, Nikola Rebic had 10. In their context, Serbian Rade Zagorac stands out, with only seven points. Those who came off the bench scored only 20 points between them. The teams will play their next game on April 25. The meeting will also take place in Kazan.
Lokomotiv Kuban – Parma
VTB United League. 1/4 final
Tuesday, April 23, 2024. 20:00 Moscow time
Lokomotiv-Kuban
Krasnodar
Parma
permanent region
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Akun-Purcell – 20, Burford – 15, Ndur – 14, Martyuk – 13, Anderson – 12, White – 11, Uzinsky – 9, Yemchenko – 8, Miller – 6, Temirov – 2, Kvitkovskikh – 2, Shcherbenev
Parma: Johnson – 22, Ilnitsky – 18, Abdulbasirov – 15, Bryce – 11, Solomon – 8, Reese – 5, Cheburkin – 4, Morozov – 2, Perevalov, Khalturin, Platunov, Tuchkov
Jaylen Barford
Photo: PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban
Lokomotiv-Kuban and Parma met in the second match of the day. In the season series, the rivals failed to identify the strongest: both clubs won a home and away match. So last season’s finalists, the railway workers, were not going to have it easy. The fans expected a fierce fight and they saw it. Both clubs played on the attack in the best tradition of NBA games, putting in a brilliant performance on the court that will not soon be forgotten. 12:12 just three minutes after the start of the game!
The attack clearly dominated the defense, so it was immediately clear that whoever did it would win the game. The teams exchanged points from time to time and were definitely not going to let anyone move on. And yet, thanks to several hits from Loko forward Dmitry Uzinsky and a precise shot from Maurice Ndour, the locals managed to finish the first quarter with a seven-point lead (36:29).
The video is available on the United League YouTube channel. The rights to the video belong to the RFB.
The second quarter was not much different from the first. The teams showed fast and brilliant basketball, delighting the public with effective actions. It is quite natural that this way was more suitable for railway workers. Parma, which did not average 80 points per game in the regular season, had to show its maximum to succeed. Doing this in a matchup with Loko is no easy task. Thus, the advantage of Alexander Sekulic’s team began to gradually grow and at the long break it reached “+16” – 67:51.
But the 4-0 at the beginning of Perm’s third ten minutes clearly indicated that Evgeniy Pashutin found something to say to his players in the locker room. Two subsequent three-pointers by Stanislav Ilnitsky and a perimeter shot by Ruslan Abdulbasirov, along with tighter defensive play, allowed the guests to come back. At some point, there was almost no trace left of Loko’s gigantic lead (78:76).
Isaiah Rees (Parma) and Maurice Ndour (Loko)
Photo: PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban
The team started the last quarter with a score of 81:76 in favor of the Krasnodar team. Having learned from the experience of the previous ten minutes, the railwaymen did not repeat their mistakes. It took Loko just two minutes to build a comfortable lead of “+11” (90:79), which only increased over time. Parma’s modest nine points in this period of the match did not allow them to catch up with the accelerating train.
The only intrigue left in the end was the possible record that Sekulic’s team could set. In 2018, CSKA Moscow scored 112 points in the playoff game against VEF Riga. The railroad workers repeated this achievement, but did not surpass it. The final score of 112:85 may be misleading for fans who did not watch the match, but those fans who watched the match will definitely be looking forward to the next games. It is still too early to end this confrontation.
Stanislav Ilnitsky
Photo: PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban
Loko’s top scorer was forward Devon Akun-Purcell, who scored 20 points. In total, the railway starters scored 61 points, and the bench players 51. The Perm team did a little worse with this: 50 points from the starting line compared to 35 for those who came off the bench. Well, Parma’s best was BJ Johnson (22). It is impossible not to mention the Russian Stanislav Ilnitsky, who has 18 points. The teams will play their next match in Krasnodar on April 25.
