By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Three sweeps and a triumph for one team that began the Playoffs without the home-court advantage summed up the first round of postseason VTB United League action.
The Semifinals, which will kick off on May 22nd, will feature CSKA Moscow versus Zenit Saint-Petersburg and UNICS Kazan against Khimki Moscow Region. Three more wins are needed for a Finals appearance, which will also translate for a ticket to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
MVP
Errick McCollum, UNICS Kazan
Many players took it up a notch, but none like our VTB Playoffs First Round MVP, Errick McCollum. The 31-year-old American guard led UNICS Kazan to the 3-0 sweep over Kalev/Cramo Tallinn with 23 points and 23 PIR per contest, both League-highs in the Quarterfinals.
Game 1 was his best with 29 points, five rebounds and four dimes. McCollum followed up with a 16-point performance in Game 2 and wrapped up the series with 24 points at Estonia including 5/5 beyond the arc. C.J. McCollum’s brother now wants to help his team progress to the best-of-five Finals.
CSKA sweeps Nizhny Novgorod and gets Zenit
A pair of comfortable home wins and a strong fourth-quarter showing in Game 3 did the trick for CSKA Moscow. Dimitris Itoudis’ team eliminated Nizhny Novgorod in three games and will continue its VTB United League Playoffs campaign facing Zenit Saint-Petersburg after the 2019 EuroLeague Final Four. Both Will Clyburn and Nando De Colo missed one match, but averaged 18 and 17 points, respectively, in the other two.
UNICS takes care of business
Only three matches were needed between UNICS Kazan and Kalev/Cramo Tallinn as well. The Russian side notched two home wins before clinching the Semifinals berth at Estonia. Errick McCollum was Dimitris Priftis’ most effective player averaging 23 points per contest in the three-game sweep, good enough for our Quarterfinals MVP award.
Shved lays course for Khimki
UNICS Semifinals’ opponent will be Khimki Moscow Region that swept Astana Nur Sultan, 3-0. Alexey Shved paved the way for Rimas Kurtinaitis’ side averaging 22 points in the series. Jordan Mickey remained his trusted sidekick with 16 points per contest including his game-high 25 in Game 3 at Kazakhstan.
Zenit completes Semifinals field
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar had the home-court advantage, but was eliminated by Zenit Saint-Petersburg in four games. A 78-69 road win in Game 1 turned the tables in Zenit’s favor and a couple of home wins and Game 3 and Game 4 sealed the Semifinals ticket. Marko Simonovic scored 22 points in thrilling Game 4 and Jalen Reynolds averaged 13.3 throughout the series.