By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Doubling up in the Quarterfinals of the VTB United League Playoffs, Zenit Saint Petersburg edged Enisey Krasnoyarsk, 83-75, Monday. Alex Poythress posted a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double. Jordan Mickey chipped in 21 more points. Billy Baron ended up with 14 points in the contest held in Sibur Arena. The Saint Petersburg outfit overcame James Thompson IV scoring 19 points to earn the win in the back-and-forth affair and build the 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Earlier, UNICS Kazan blew out Avtodor Saratov, 97-59. The second win in a row at Basket-Hall Kazan grew yet another 2-0 lead. Croatian star Mario Hezonja and three-time EuroLeague champion Andrey Vorontsevich shared a team-high 15 points. Jaron Johnson added 12 points for the team coached by Velimir Perasovic. On the wrong end of the one-sided affair, youngster Anton Kvitkovskikh logged a game-high 19 points.
On Sunday, CSKA and Lokomotiv Kuban beat Nizhny Novgorod and Parma PariBet, respectively. The teams based in Moscow and Krasnodar both drew a 2-0 lead. The Game 3 schedule moving all four pairings to the opposite venues stretches Wednesday through Friday.
Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Eastern Europe, Euroleague Basketball opted to withdraw the participation of CSKA, UNICS, Zenit, and Lokomotiv Kuban from the 2021-22 edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup in late March. All four teams have since been limited to the VTB and earned the home-court advantage in the first round of the Playoffs.
Photo Credit: Basketball club Zenit Twitter