By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The 26th week of the VTB United League Regular Season featured eight games, two on Wednesday, one on Thursday, one on Saturday and four on Sunday. One of the main developments came in the first set of matches and was Kalev/Cramo Tallinn completing the postseason field, which brings us to our MVP of the Week.
MVP
Tony Wroten, Kalev/Cramo Tallinn
Washington alumni Tony Wroten has really delivered for Kalev/Cramo Tallinn since he was acquired in December, but kept his best showing for the biggest win of the season. The Estonian side took down Zenit Saint-Petersburg, 96-80, on Wednesday, to clinch a VTB playoffs spot for the first time with Wroten setting multiple personal-bests in the league.
He contributed to the historic win with 31 points, eight rebounds, six drawn fouls and 37 PIR, all VTB career-highs, dished eight helpers as well. His 28:03 on the court were also the most he’s played in the league. That wasn’t it, as the 26-year-old American guard continued with 21 points, seven assists and five boards in the 94-84 victory over Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday.
UNICS drops first place
CSKA Moscow had already finished its regular season campaign and UNICS Kazan just needed to win its three remaining matches to secure first place ahead of the playoffs. However, Parma Perm Region played the spoiler with the 82-76 win versus Dimitris Priftis’ side. The 111-95 road win over Avtodor Saratov behind Jamar Smith’s 27 points, 11-assist double-double only set pace for second place.
Lokomotiv clinches fourth spot
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar crushed Zenit Saint-Petersburg, 94-78, on the road to secure home-court advantage in the playoffs. The visitors were unstoppable inside the paint with 30/43 shots. Jared Uthoff led the way dropping 18 points. The home team played without Jalen Reynolds and fell to sixth place following its fourth consecutive defeat.
Miracle comeback from Khimki
Upsets were coming and going this week, but Khimki Moscow Region avoided a similar situation with the 97-93 overtime win against Nizhny Novgorod on the road. Down 11 with 2:20 to go, the visitors forced extra time with a three-pointer from Janis Timma and ultimately secured at least third place. Alexey Shved scored a game-high 34 points.