Andrey Vorontsevich: "In the end, luck was more on our side"

Zenit forward Andrey Vorontsevich summarized the guest victory over Pari Nizhny Novgorod (73:75) during the post-match press conference. The player pointed out the key mistakes his team made, which caused difficulties in today's game.

— It wasn’t easy. We started off well, but then made a few mistakes, missed some free throws. Nizhny felt that, and of course, the crowd always helps them. I, more than anyone, know how great the fans are here, and I’m always happy to see them. A big thanks to them for the atmosphere during the game. Thank God, we won. But, honestly, the game wasn't our best. Still, one point means a win, two points — a сrushing victory. Well, that's a joke. Of course, we made a lot of mistakes and allowed the opponent to grab rebounds, as the stats show: they made 15 offensive rebounds. But in the end, luck was more on our side.

— The previous matches ended with Zenit's advantage of at least 17 points. Why, in your opinion, did the game turn out so tight today, and you only managed to secure the victory at the very end? Was it Nizhny playing so well, or did you not have your best game today?

— Well, let’s put it this way: Nizhny played well, and we didn’t have our best game. And I’ll repeat, the rims here are quite tough, and there were some tricky bounces. Nizhny knows where the ball bounces after a miss, and they gathered the rebounds well. Of course, anything can happen. It’s sports. I want to express special thanks to the head coach Sergey Kozin for trusting the young players in the absence of experienced players like Baburin and Khvostov, and they’ve been performing wonderfully. So, good luck to them, but we move forward.