From the very beginning, Nizhny Novgorod made it clear that they would fight aggressively. They didn’t attempt many triples and insistently cut into the paint. However, their defense wasn’t perfect. Nizhny failed to stop Kulagin’s penetration – 4/4, 8 points. But the gap in the score wasn’t big – 26:25 in favor of Lokomotiv.
In the second quarter, Isaiah Whitehead stole the court (12 points in 10 minutes). The home team couldn’t resist his stutter steps. Loko’s advantage grew to 12 points. At the end of the period, the teams ran fast and didn’t waste time on long combinations. Nizhny started to catch up and Loko’s advantage decreased to 7 points.
In the third quarter, Lokomotiv left behind Nizhny with a 10-point advantage. The home team regularly tried to come back. As a result of the period, 69:57 in favor of Loko and a poor percentage of free throws by Krasnodar – only 50%.
Loko controlled the game at the end and prevented Nizhny from coming back. Khvostov played his 200th game in the VTB United League and shot floater, while Johnson’s free throws, steal, and block shot 20 seconds before the end of the game set the final score – 88:75. Loko won fourth game in a row in all tournaments.
Isaiah Whitehead got 23 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Dmitry Kulagin added 14 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds.