The start of the game wasn’t what Loko fans probably expected: Samara quickly took an 8:0 lead thanks to 3-pointers from two Volga’ Danilas, Chikarev and Pokhodyaev. Vince Hunter scored 2 points, but Krasnodar’s defense left Alexander Kuznetsov uncovered in their own end. He received a quarterback pass and sent Lokomotiv to a timeout at 2:10.
A one-minute break brought the hosts back to their senses: 100% free throw accuracy, long-range shots from Mike Moore and B.J. Johnson, and the score was tied at 12:12. Substitutions were made on both teams, and Anton Kvitkovskikh and Vsevolod Ishchenko put Lokomotiv ahead by 7. But then Samara’s Artyom Pivtsaikin caught fire: the 18-year-old guard scored 9 points, and the teams went into the first break tied at 26:26.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, Samara’s top scorer, Nikita Mikhailovsky, started doing his things. He responded to Kvitkovskikh‘s and Makar Konovalov‘s shots (the latter scored twice in a row), as well as to our misses, so at one point Samara took a 38:34 lead. Moore, Johnson, and Jeremiah Martin returned to the court, allowing Krasnodar to regain the lead within a couple of minutes, but Kuznetsov hit a perimeter shot (by this point, the visitors were shooting 7 of 12, 58% from three), and the score was back to “–4”.
However, Lokomotiv began to overcome their opponents’ zone defense, albeit sporadically. Moore scored from mid-range, Patrick Miller made two free throws, and the teams went to the locker rooms tied at 45:45.
Martin and Hunter seemed to be building a lead for Lokomotiv early in the 3rd quarter. After some decent ball movement, Moore scored from midrange, Samoylenko from the perimeter, Miller added 2+1. But Samara came back every time, and at some point, Yevgeny Minchenko started hitting 3-pointers, giving the visitors a 62:61 lead at the 28th minute.
Then Johnson really got into the game: his active defense allowed him and his teammates to score points in quick transitions. The quarter ended with Johnson provoking Mikhailovsky on an offensive foul and, seconds later, the 3-point buzzer, 70:64 in our favor.
Первым забитым мячом заключительного отрезка тоже стал трёхочковый Джонсона. «Самара» усилиями Походяева ещё раз подобралась на дистанцию в «‒4», но это оказался их последний всплеск. Благодаря постоянной ротации «Локомотив» держал высокий темп, справляться с которым соперник перестал. Квитковских и Коновалов набрали 7 очков за минуту, тут же Джонсон перехватил мяч ‒ и у него оказалось достаточно времени, чтобы исполнить данк с разворотом на 360 градусов, 82:69.
Вскоре состоялся ещё один 7-очковый рывок «Локо» ‒ теперь благодаря попаданиям Хантера и Ищенко. Год спустя в форме родного клуба на паркет вновь вышел Захар Ведищев ‒ и успел отметиться фирменным дальним попаданием. На последних минутах в исходе матча сомнений уже не было.
The first shot of the final quarter was Johnson‘s 3-pointer again. Samara, thanks to Pokhodyaev, got within 4 points, but that proved to be their last burst. The active rotation helped Lokomotiv maintain a high tempo that the opponent could no longer match. Kvitkovskikh and Konovalov scored 7 points in a minute, and Johnson immediately stole the ball, having enough time to execute a 360 dunk for 82:69.
Soon, Lokomotiv performed another 7-point run, this time thanks to baskets from Hunter and Ishchenko. Zakhar Vedishchev returned to the court in his hometown uniform after the 1.5-year break, and managed to score his signature long-range shot. In the final minutes, the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt.
Lokomotiv Kuban now has 3 consecutive away games to play: against Uralmash on January 29, against Avtodor on February 1, and against Pari NN on February 4. We’ll next see our team in Krasnodar on February 8, when UNICS visits.
Go, Loko!