The usual dive in EuroLeague action includes some new records for UNICS Kazan and a historic quarter for Zenit St. Petersburg’s big Jordan Mickey.
Moreover, ASVEL was defeated for the first time this season in the game vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv, despite the excellent performance of Ellie Ekobo.
UNICS Kazan scores new EuroLeague low vs. Fenerbahce
UNICS Kazan had a night to forget in the game against Fenerbahce for Round 4 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The Russian club only managed to score a new club-low 41 points in Istanbul.
Velimir Perasovic’s side scored only five points during the third quarter and eight points in the opening 10 minutes of the contest. Also, a new club low was the 28.9 percent on two-pointers.
Fener did not look back at any point during the game, making a smooth return to its winning ways. Sasa Djordjevic handed some solid minutes to the team’s youngster Sehmus Hazer, who made his EuroLeague debut.
The 22-year-old guard finished the game with four points, on 1-of-1 shooting and 2-of-2 free throws, as well as one assist for an index ranking of seven in almost 11 minutes.
“There’s not a lot to say after games like this. This was a great reaction from the whole team. We were so focused, so disciplined defensively.
We did almost everything we planned to. In the last two games, we played 70 minutes of really good basketball. And the 10 that are missing are just pissing me off — in the loss in Berlin,” Djordjevic said after the contest.
Jordan Mickey enjoys historic first quarter
Zenit St. Petersburg improved its record to 3-1 after another win vs. Bayern Munich, which has yet to add to its winning column in the EuroLeague standings.
Zenit saw Jordan Mickey breaking a historical record after scoring 16 points without a missed shot in the first quarter. Mickey’s point tally was the most in a quarter ever by a player without a missed shot, turnover, foul committed or shot blocked.
The American big proceeded to add just two made free throws and one more rebound the rest of the way, finishing the contest with 18 points, four rebounds and one assist.
Apart from Mickey, fellow American guard Jordan Loyd had a great night with a game-high 11 assists. Mostly known for his scoring ability, the 11-assist game was a career-high for the 2019 NBA champion in the EuroLeague.
“Bayern is known for fighting until the very end, and that’s what they did. We made some mistakes at the beginning of the third and we were able to buckle down and play our game, and we were able to come out with a victory,” Mickey said after the game.
Ellie Okobo cannot keep ASVEL perfect vs. Maccabi
Maccabi Tel Aviv was able to withhold LDLC ASVEL and Ellie Ekobo and get its first victory after two consecutive losses in the EuroLeague.
The EuroLeague and Israeli giants had to withstand Ellie Ekobo’s great performance that included 23 points, four rebounds and four assists.
That was a career-high in points for the French guard, who set a new career-high in assists the previous round with 11. Ekobo, 23, has made his first four appearances in the EuroLeague competition, making serious noise.
He averages 16.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists over the first four games of his EuroLeague career. Maccabi had to reduce rotation to eight players to stop Ekobo and return to its winning ways.
Roman Sorkin, John DiBartolomeo and Oz Blayzer did not play at all, while James Nunnally and Scottie Wilbekin played more than 30 minutes to secure an important win for Maccabi.
“A very important win for us. We wanted to play a good game to make a start. Today was very concentrated and focused. We controlled the game from the beginning to the end and I want to congratulate our players.
They deserve this win. We didn’t play well until now, this is our best game until now and we have a lot of things to improve, of course. I think we will play even better than today,” Yiannis Sfairopoulos said on his team’s win.