By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
UNICS Kazan and Zenit Saint Petersburg, missing plenty of players previously featured on their rosters, managed to beat Tsmoki-Minsk and Parma-Parimatch, respectively, on Sunday.
Croatian Mario Hezonja logged a triple-double in the lopsided 98-56 victory for UNICS. The former Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers player registered 25 points, 12 assists, and 12 rebounds lasting 31 minutes in the VTB United League Regular Season contest. Andrey Vorontsevich added 20 points, six steals, five assists, and four rebounds.
Unavailable players included Marco Spissu, John Brown, Isaiah Canaan, Lorenzo Brown, Jarrell Brantley, and John Holland. O.J. Mayo was registered for the game but did not actually play.
Tyson Carter, Jordan Loyd, Billy Baron, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Alex Poythress, Mateusz Ponitka, Conner Frankamp, Jordan Mickey, Arturas Gudaitis, and Shabazz Napier were not featured for Zenit in the win, 82-75.
Andrey Zubkov went for 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and one block. Former NBA player Sergey Karasev finished with a team-high 18 points. For the losing side, Evgeny Voronov made out a game-high 19 points facing his former team.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war, the VTB campaign resumed, according to the initial schedule. However, two teams, Kalev/Cramo and Enea Zastal BC Zielona Gora withdrew from the competition and multiple foreign players left their respective teams.
In addition, all Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games involving both UNICS and Zenit along with CSKA Moscow have been suspended, Euroleague Basketball announced last week.
Sunday results:
UNICS – Tsmoki-Minsk 98-56
Zenit – Parma-Parimatch 82-75
Photo Credit: EuroLeagueBasketball.net