For some defeats you can’t be ashamed of.
Of course, there was a chance to achieve more when visiting the current champion. Especially after such a vigorous start that Lokomotiv had. In the first 5 minutes, the red-greens scored 13 points thanks to the efforts of Vsevolod Ishchenko (he scored 6 points, including the first 2) and Patrick Miller (thanks to his three-pointer, he scored 7, like all of CSKA at that time). Isaiah Whaley added another 7 points. Aleksa Avramović did the most for the army team – but his 9 points wasn’t enough at the start – 22:16 in favor of Lokomotiv by the first break.
In the 2nd quarter, Lokomotiv showed their ability to quickly reorganize when something stopped working.
CSKA made a 12:3 run and took a lead, but Andrei Martyuk, and then his substitute Kirill Yelatontsev began to move more into the opponent’s post. And as soon as the Muscovites began to concentrate more forces under the hoop, BJ Johnson and Kirill Temirov began to score 3-pointers – this allowed Loko to go into the big break as leaders, 42:40.
A day before, Patrick Miller described his expectations of the game against the reigning champions with the word “dogfight”. And in the 3rd quarter, the opponents snatched each other like pit-bulls. During this 10 minutes, no side managed to get ahead by more than 4 points, the leader changed 5 times, and the score was tied 8 times.
In order to score, the opponents had to do something unusual: like Johnson who appeared out of nowhere and made a putback, or like Cleveland who faked his intention to break under the hoop. The opponents went into the last break tied – 61:61.
Аврамович начал забивать едва ли не в каждой атаке. Ему симметрично отвечал Миллер ‒ то в фирменном проходе, то которым уже по счёту попаданием из-за дуги. Оба в итоге наберут по 30 очков (для каждого из них это тоже рекорды в нашей лиге).
After that, the scoring extravaganza in the 4th quarter was astonishing. It was launched immediately – by Vladislav Yemchenko who made a clever pass to Cleveland. Temirov continued, scoring from afar once again ‒ finally, he set his personal scoring record (14 points) this day.
On the other side, Avramović looked unstoppable, scoring in almost every attack. Miller did the same ‒ either with his signature breakthroughs, or with numerous long shots. Both would eventually score 30 points (for each of them, these are personal records in our league).
Then some even more epic exchanges of mighty blows began.
CSKA pulled ahead by 7 points. Loko cut it to two.
Avramović and Melo Trimble scored 3-pointers each, making it 90:82 in favor of the hosts with 56 seconds left. Loko got up, dusted themselves off and went on a counterattack.
One interception after another, flawless free throws from Whaley, exemplary pressure on Trimble ‒ and now it was only “–2” 15 seconds before the siren, and Lokomotiv had the ball! A pass to Johnson ‒ and BJ decided to throw from a difficult position instead of moving the attack further. The ball hit the rim, flew away, and Krasnodar team had to foul on Jekiri.
He scored both free throws, 88:92 forCSKA and 12 seconds on the scoreboard. That’s it? No! Miller grabs the ball and scores his third 3-pointer of the game!
With 9 seconds left, the opponent is in possession, and the opponent calls a timeout. And after the game resumes, the pressure of Lokomotiv forces Jekiri to lose the ball out of bounds.
To win, Loko needs something Munich. Here Miller is standing with the ball on the sideline near the center line and looking for a recipient for a pass. Here are the other 9 players frantically fighting for positions. Whaley manages to open up for the pass, but the hoop is too far. Isaiah’s throw misses the target. Well. Not all fairy tales end happily. And is there time for a happy ending at the very beginning of the regular season?
Some defeats inspire no less than victories.
Lokomotiv showed that they can find good responses to 30-point super-performances and to “–8” with a minute left against a ruling champions. Also, it is interesting to know how many neutral fans will support Loko after today’s battle.
As for the winning streak… It will be much more necessary not now, but in the spring, when the playoffs begin. And rewatching matches like today’s, it will not be difficult to find additional motivation.
We are waiting for you on November 3 at the Basket Hall. Lokomotiv has another top-level match coming up – against Zenit, the team with the biggest expense account in the VTB United League. And they have a big grudge against us – they clearly want to take revenge for the 83:76 we gave them in St. Petersburg on October 6.
Come on over. Let’s show the whole country that in Krasnodar we support our team no worse than our guys play basketball.