By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In total contrast with what took place in the first quarterfinal game of the series, this time Khimki Moscow was vastly more superior against Lokomotiv Kuban, winning the match 97 – 83 and making the 2-0 in the series in a comfortable manner.
With a dreamlike performance of 35 points behind nearly flawless shooting (10/12 field goals including 7/8 three-pointers), Tyrese Rice even surpassed himself, leading Khimki’s nearly unstoppable offensive game. He also added 5 assists while making only 1 turnover.
Once again Lokomotiv Kuban had to cope without the key duo of Malcolm Delaney and Anthony Randolph, but the team’s main problems appeared in the defensive end, being multiplied by the hosts impressive shooting from downtown (17/30). Victor Claver was the top performer for his team with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
The two teams were relatively close in the boxscore only until the beginning of the second quarter. It was then, with the score being 29 – 27, that Khimki Moscow dropped eleven unanswered points over its opponents, making it 40 – 27 in less than two minutes. A small 0-5 run by Loko was immediately countered with an 11-2 partial score by Khimki which finished the first half ahead in the score 51 – 37.
But coach Ivanovic’s players were just getting started, since thanks to a highly aggressive 11-0 entrance in the third quarter, they skyrocketed their lead, making it 62 – 37. Lokomotiv Kuban was simply unable to recover from such a deficit and become threatening enough to worry Khimki Moscow that took its second victory in the quarterfinals in style.