By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The third week of the VTB United League tipped off Thursday with Tsmoki-Minsk registering its first victory of the season with CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow – Lokomotiv Kuban 94-80
Will Clyburn with 22 points led the charge as CSKA Moscow got the win over Loko. Mike James added 18 points and six assists for the winning side and Darrun Hilliard scored 14. CSKA was playing without center Nikola Milutinov, guard Janis Strelnieks and forward Semen Antonov tested positive for COVID-19.
In Milutinov’s absence, Joel Bolomboy recorded a career-high of six blocks.
From the losing side, Jordan Crawford scored 22 and Allan Williams added 18 as Loko dropped to a 1-1 record, while CSKA is now at 2-1.
Enisey – Tsmoki Minsk 81-86
A week after qualifying for the BCL Regular Season, Tsmoki-Minsk started its VTB League duties with a victory on the road against Enisey. Maksim Salash stepped up with a big performance for the winning side, tapping 26 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 26 minutes. Kris Clyburn followed Salash’s lead with 16 points, 5 rebounds.
Dustin Hogue posted a team-high double-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds for Enisey, that suffered its second defeat of the season.
Unics Kazan – Astana 101 – 83
Some days after scoring 16 points in his official European debut, longtime NBA guard Isaiah Canaan dropped 23 points on 4-8 3-pointers as Unics Kazan crushed Astana in its VTB League season opener.
John Holland had 19 points and seven rebounds for Unics while Jamar Smith posted 16 points and five assists. Adonis Thomas (16 points, six rebounds) and Michael Thompson (15 points) were Astana’s top scorers.
Saratov – PARMA Perm 70-93
Robert Johnson was leading the winning charge with 20 points while Lorenzo Williams, Adas Juskevicius and Konstantin Bulanov scored 11 each.
On the other side, Nate Mason banked 18 in addition to Markel Starks’ 14 points.
Zenit Saint Petersburg – Tsmoki-Minsk 104-73
Zenit continued its winning streak by getting past Tsmoki-Minsk and it was in no small part thanks to Austin Hollins who scored 17 points followed by Kevin Pangos and Arturas Gudaitis with 14 each.
For Tsmoki, Kris Clyburn scored 18 while Robert Lowery and Maksim Salash added 17 points each.
Khimki Moscow – Kalev 92-74
Khimki recovered from its defeat to Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague opener to take down Kalev with ease at home.
Jonas Jerebko led the winners with a stunning 30-point performance and 10 rebounds, Egor Viatsev posted 21 points, while Devin Booker had 16 points.
For Kalev, Devin Thomas and Gabe Bealer posted 13 points each.