By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Khimki and CSKA Moscow may be done with their EuroLeague games (the latter at least for a week), though the VTB League battle is still on and a double-game week awaited the reigning champions at the end of the regular season in Europe. Both teams rose up to the occasion, grabbing respective victories. At the same time, victory-hungry Unics did its best to keep its opponents at bay paced by a superb performance by this week’s star, Errick McCollum.
Let’s dive in.
MVP
Errick McCollum, Unics
The Kazan side was victorious on the road against Kalev, thanks to a star-like performance by McCollum. The 31-year-old combo guard posted a game-high performance of 33 points on a nearly perfect 12/13 FG shooting! As if that wasn’t enough, he was 100% accurate from the three-point line, with all five of his attempts finding the net. Add three rebounds and two assists to his offensive festival for a total PIR of 35 and there you have our MVP of the past week.
De Colo saves the day for CSKA, twice
The Army Team had a lot to catch up with in the VTB League this week though managed to be successful in both games against Zenit and Nizhny Novgorod. Nando De Colo stepped up for Dimitris Itoudis’ squad, dropping 15 and 17 points respectively. CSKA had it a bit difficult on the road against Nizhny, though in the end the result was sealed and they remain on top of the league’s standings with a 21-4 record.
Alexey Shved sets new personal assists record
As Khimki hosted Zielona Gora on Monday, Shved set a new personal record with 15 assists registered in the team’s 100-80 victory (he also shared 10 points). The Moscow side kept up the momentum this week, with the earlier addition of Janis Timma to their VTB roster really paying off – he had 20 points against Zielona Gora. All in all, Rimas Kurtinaitis’ squad is doing a great job to bounce back from a tough season and dedicate fully in the VTB League ahead of the upcoming playoffs.
Unics with the statement win vs. Kalev
We’ve said it time and time again in this trademark series that Unics is a team that won’t back down easily in the chase of a VTB League trophy. This time, Dimitris Priftis’ team registered a victory on the road against Estonian side Kalev and it was a statement one. Our MVP of the week Errick McCollum did his best to execute his opponents, as Unics moved up to an 18-4 record in the campaign. The good news for Kalev is that they remain in playoffs sight, currently ranking 8th in the standings (a tie with Nizhny at 10-12).
Results:
Enisey – Tsmoki-Minsk 80-68 (Harrison 33 p. – Mihailovic 19 p.)
Parma – Zielona Gora 72-92 (Zukauskas 16 p. – Planinic 19 p.)
CSKA Moscow – Zenit 83-73 (De Colo 15 p. – Reynolds 14 p.)
Khimki – Zielona Gora 100-80 (Timma 20 – DeVoe 15 p.)
Kalev – Unics 95-107 (Moultrie 22 p. – McCollum 33 p.)
Nizhny Novgorod – CSKA Moscow 89-95 (Zhbanov 18 p. – De Colo 17 p.)
Lokomotiv Kuban – Avtodor 95-91 (Wright 19 p. – Kravish 21 p.)
Standings:
| # | Team | W/L | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | CSKA | 21/4 | 84.0 |
| 2. | UNICS | 18/4 | 81.8 |
| 3. | Khimki | 17/5 | 77.3 |
| 4. | Lokomotiv-Kuban | 15/7 | 68.2 |
| 5. | Astana | 14/8 | 63.6 |
| 6. | Zenit | 14/8 | 63.6 |
| 7. | Nizhny Novgorod | 12/10 | 54.5 |
| 8. | Kalev | 10/12 | 45.5 |
| 9. | Avtodor | 9/14 | 39.1 |
| 10. | Enisey | 8/14 | 36.4 |
| 11. | VEF | 8/15 | 34.8 |
| 12. | Stelmet Zielona Gora | 5/19 | 20.8 |
| 13. | PARMA | 4/19 | 17.4 |
| 14. | Tsmoki-Minsk | 3/19 | 13.6 |
Photo credit: VTB League on Flickr