By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Alexey Shved and Janis Timma led Khimki Moscow to a 92-91 home win over Unics Kazan as they finish the VTB League semifinal series 3-1 and advance to the Finals where they will clash with CSKA Moscow. With this win, Khimki also secured a spot in the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Shved scored 25 points and dished nine assists while Timma followed with 24 points. Jordan Mickey added 13 and Stefan Markovic 11 points.
The crucial moment of the game was at the minute and a half remaining when Timma made a ‘two and one’ play followed by Markovic’s deep triple. Khimki grabbed an 87-83 lead and Unics couldn’t recover from the blow.
For Unics, Raymar Morgan banked game-high 27 points in addition to Jamar Smith’s 19 and Trenton Lockett’s 15 points.
Unics opened the game with a 19-5 run but Khimki stayed close and cut the gap to five points at halftime (49-44). They continued getting closer to Unics and Shved nailed a triple near the end of the third quarter to give Khimki their first lead of the game (62-61). The game stayed balanced but Khimki eventually managed to grab the win thanks to a few clutch plays which put them ahead in crucial moments.