Kirill Temirov came out in the starting lineup and scored with his first shot, putting Loko ahead, 3:2. PARMA made an easy 8:0 run then, but BJ Johnson scored first from long range, then from mid-range – 8:10. At that moment, both teams were making 3-pointers with impressive accuracy. For the Krasnodar team Anton Kvitkovskikh scored, as well as the best long-range shooter in the whole VTB United League, Kirill Yelatontsev – he now has three out of three!
Patrick Miller scored after tough contact un the paint, but then Dmitry Cheburkin found a way to stop the Loko point guard, and at some point the hosts’ advantage reached 12 points. But by the end of the quarter, Vladislav Yemchenko made the gap acceptable, 25:34.
Samson Ruzhentsev’s shot was blocked by Isaiah Whaley at the very start of the 2nd quarter, and Karvel Andersen and Antonius Cleveland reduced the margin to 32:36. The following five-point run of the Perm team was stopped by Anderson’s accurate mid-ranger, a block by Yelatontsev and a shot by Anton Kvitkovskikh – 36:41. But then Andrey Martyuk missed three throws in a row, each of which looked so easy that one might think someone had put a curse on the Loko center.
Also, something was very wrong with the Krasnodar team’s free throws: in the first half, the players in white never scored both throws in one approach. As for PARMA, their pick-and-rolls involving Royce Hamm started working finely. It was Yelatontsev’s excellent work in the opponent’s paint and Miller’s almost-dunk that prevented the opponent from running far away – 47:54 at the big break.
Timofey Yakushin opened the 3rd quarter with a good long shot, but the following minutes showed that Loko had become more collected in defense. Kvitkovskikh and Miller also scored from afar, then Johnson reduced the gap to one successful possession, 55:57.
A little later, Cleveland did another important thing for the team’s mental state – he made both free throws in. Although PARMA pulled ahead by 7 points (59:66) again, it was clear that Loko had gained confidence. Yelatontsev and Cleveland scored hard attempts, and by the end of the ten minutes, the Krasnodar club became a little more close to the opponent – 63:69.
The final quarter started as a shootout between Cleveland and Stanislav Ilnitsky. The PARMA forward scored two long shots, the Loko guard made 3 points, then 2, and then scored all three free throws in one go, 71:75. Cheburkin also scored from afar – and then stepped under jumping Cleveland. There was great concern about the Krasnodar player’s foot, but fortunately, AC returned to the game.
At that point, the entire Krasnodar team had finally awaken: Miller began scoring and at some point put Loko ahead, 80:79, then 82:79. Alex Hamilton tied the score with a long throw, and then played two alley-oops in a row with Hamm – 86:86!
A lack of understanding between Johnson and Yelatontsev in a quick counter-attack, two accurate free throws from Ruzhentsev, two points from Johnson, another accurate free throw from Hamm – and Johnson runs into the same Hamm in the next episode, 88:91 with 13 seconds left. Tactical fouls, unfortunately, made the opponent’s lead bigger.
Now Lokomotiv-Kuban will play 4 games in a row at home. The first one is on December 18 at 8 PM against MBA-MAI. See you in the stands of Basket Hall!