St. Petersburg “Zenit” at home beat “Khimki” and strengthened the position in the second place in the table of the VTB United League championships – 74:66.
The debut was for “Khimki”, who felt at ease in a strange three-second zone, due to what they attacked with a high percentage and took advantage. But soon St. Petersburg made several branded rapid attacks. These productive attacks allowed them to equalize the game just as quickly and without any apparent effort. The shots of Sergei Karasev in the first half brought the guests closer to the distance of the long-range attack – 42:39 in favor of “Khimki” after 20 minutes.
The third quarter was unsuccessful for the team near Moscow. After 4 losses in 5 attacks, “Khimki” for a long time could not find the rhythm, and “Zenit” scored 7 unanswered points. With a score of 56:44 in favor of the citizens of St. Petersburg, “Khimki” managed a comeback similar to what they had previously done with blue-white-blues. Defense and 7 consecutive points from Earl Rowland allowed them to turn “-12” into “-3”. With the only difference that the third quarter ended with a brilliant “bazer” of Karasev made through the hands of Shved – 58:53 in favor of “Zenit” before the decisive quarter.
Attempts of “Khimki” to organize another comeback in the final quarter were unsuccessful. The victory over the rival guaranteed “Zenit” the second place. At the same time, the representatives of the Northern capital still pretend to be the first.
Sergey Karasev, who scored 23 points, became the most productive player of the meeting, won the status duel with Shved and scored two defining 3-points shots at the junction of the third and fourth quarters.
