The game started in a defensive way: during the first 4 minutes, the teams scored only 8 points, half of which were from free throws. It heavily reminded the previous game between these opponents, when the first quarter ended with a score of 12:10. But after a 3-pointer by Patrick Miller, the game opened up.
Anton Kvitkovskikh took the fact that Ilya Karpenkov dunked over him very personally – and immediately hammered in a poster in return. Miller did a mirror response to Zach Nutall’s 2-pointer; Evgeny Baburin did the same after BJ Johnson’s long shot. The first quarter ended with a score of 22:18 in favor of the hosts.
The exchange of quite symmetrical shots passed on for some time in the 2nd quarter: Alexander Khomenko scored from afar – Vladislav Yemchenko repeated. Nutall put a mid-range shot on target – Antonius Cleveland made it from from long range.
And then something began that the fans of the Krasnodar club had eagerly awaited: Karvel Anderson started scoring his signature threes. He warmed up with a mid-range shot – and then put in 4 long-range shots in a row in less than 3 minutes! This interchanged with dunks by Cleveland, each of which was more beautiful than the previous. This pace was beyond the Nizhny Novgorod’s capabilities – by the big break, Lokomotiv’s lead looked massive, 57:35.
In the 3rd quarter, the hosts aim was to show the opponents that there would be no nervous ending. And even though Miller suddenly missed 4 free throws in a row, Kvitkovskikh and Cleveland were fine in scoring. Loko successfully kept the margin in the range of 18-22 points. A few seconds before the end of the period, Dmitry Khvostov from afar reduced it to “-16”, but Yemchenko managed to score the mid-range buzzer, 78:60.
Nizhny Novgorod kept trying to get back into the game, but shots from Kirill Yelatontsev, Cleveland and Kirill Temirov did not let the teams get closer. After a 3-pointer by Dmitry Uzinsky at the end of the 37th minute, it seemed that there was no intrigue left – 90:71. But the all-Russian five of Nizhny quickly reduced it to “–12”.
Miller made a steal and scored a slam dunk in just the right time. And then Kvitkovskikh took the rebound on his backboard and made a quarterback assist to Yelatontsev – thence the outcome finally ceased to be in doubt. At the very last minute, the spectators beheld two spectacular dunks by Kvitkovskikh and Cleveland; the latter had gained really fantastic form by the end of December.
The next game for Loko will also be at home, on January 4 at 3 PM. The opponent is the only team we have not beaten in this championship yet – PARMA. See you at Basket Hall!