The battle for the top is still on – VTB Weekly

By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net

Nearly a month away from the playoffs, anything goes in the VTB League! A new question arises after the end of the 23rd week of action. Will CSKA defend the top place against feisty Unics? After their recent match-up in Moscow, we saw that the Kazan side is not willing to give up the fight so easily!

Apart from that, let’s check the rest of the action from VTB League this past week:

MVP

D’ Angelo Harrison – Enisey

Enisey is one of the struggling teams at this point of the season, though this didn’t seem to have a negative impact to D’Angelo Harrison, who posted a season-high performance as the team prevailed over Nizhny Novgorod. Harrison added 27 points, eight rebounds, and three assists across 30 minutes on the court, for a total PIR of 29.

Unics sweeps CSKA

The battle for the top place will be a long one, as Unics is not willing to give up the fight yet. And so they proved in Moscow when they swept defending VTB champions CSKA with a 10-point victory on Monday. The Kazan side closed the game on a 12-2 run and now controls its own destiny in the race for the regular season title.

Unics had not won a game in Moscow since 2011, but they managed to get a perfect 2/2 against CSKA this year.

Khimki gets it done over Lokomotiv

Another intense duel took place in Krasnodar this time, with Khimki taking away the victory and the third place of the standings with a 16-5 record. The visitors managed to turn the tide in the final period, with both Jordan Mickey (20 p. 9 r.) and Janis Timma (17 p. 5 a.) scoring decisive baskets down the stretch.

Zenit extends four-game winning streak

Zenit St. Petersburg controlled Tsmoki-Minsk’s comeback into their game and with Marko Simonovic scoring in double-digits (20 points), the team pushed for its fourth straight victory. Joan Plaza’s squad improved to a 14-7 record, a tie with Lokomotiv Kuban though still remain at the fifth place in the league standings.

Kalev sets scoring record and pushes for the playoffs

Kalev got its 10th victory of the season against Zielona Gora with a huge victory that set a new scoring record for the club with 117 points. Arnett Moultrie and Tony Wroten led the way for the Estonian side, adding a total of 56 points on 20-29 shooting. Kalev also dished out 32 assists, tied for second-best of this season. That being said, they remain in the 8th position of the standings with a 10-11 record.

VTB Week 23 results:

Tsmoki-Minsk – Lokomotiv Kuban 66-97 (Mihailovic 18 p. – Randle 15 p.)
Zielona Gora – Kalev 100-117 (Planinic 14 p. – Moultrie 30 p.)
Astana – Parma 79-71 (Ο’Brien 20 p. – McLean 18 p.)
Zenit – Tsmoki-Minsk 84-72 (Simonovic 20 p. – Sarikopoulos 17 p.)
Enisey – Nizhny Novgorod 92-88 (Harrison 27 p. – Perry 27 p.)
Avtodor – Zielona Gora 112-106 (Golden 31 p. – Justice 21 p.)
CSKA Moscow – Unics Kazan 73-83 (De Colo 20 p. – Smith 15 p.)
Lokomotiv Kuban – Khimki 83-87 (Kulagin 21 p. – Mickey 20 p.)

Photo credit: VTB League