A matter of motivation
In a game that didn't decide anything in terms of the standings, UNICS and CSKA staged a real battle, in which the hosts prevailed...
UNICS Kazan – CSKA PBC: 86-78 (-8)
UNICS: Akoon-Purcell (16 + 3 rb + 6 as + 4 st), Komolov (10 + 2 as + 4 pf), Bako (14 + 13 rb + 2 as), Lopatin (7 + 4 rb + 3 as + 4 pf), Platunov (4) – start; Reynolds (16 + 10 rb + 3 as), Knight (19 + 3 rb + 6 as + 3 to), Toropov (0), Ilyuk (0), Stulenkov (DNP)…
CSKA: Trimble (5 + 9 as + 4 to), Ukhov (3 + 2 as), Jean-Charles (16 + 3 rb + 2 st), M'Baye (2), Kurbanov (3 rb) – start; Ware (9 + 3 as), Jekiri (17 + 3 rb + 4 as), Avramovic (7 + 3 rb + 2 as), Gankevich (DNP), Astapkovich (11 + 4 rb), Karpenko (DNP), Antonov (8 + 3 rb + 2 as + 2 bs)…
Andreas Pistiolis, CSKA head coach:
Congratulations to UNICS on a well-deserved victory, they played better, especially after the halftime, and showed a higher level of motivation. The crucial moment for us was the start of the second half, in which we created a lot of open looks and missed them all. The team responded to this inappropriately, starting to create difficult shots for themselves. Our offense became malfunctional, which our opponents took advantage of.
