Zenit secured a home victory and took a 2-1 lead in the series
Alexander Shcherbenev, Igor Volkhin, and Ismaël Bako missed the match against the Kazan team. From the very first seconds, Zenit's starting five consisted of Andre Roberson, Trent Frazier, Johnny Juzang, Andrey Martiuk, and Georgy Zhbanov.
The start of the game was completely dominated by the St. Petersburg side. In response to accurate long-range shots by Roberson (twice), Emchenko, and Frazier, as well as a dunk from Martiuk, the visitors answered with a dunk by Bingham and a free throw by Reynolds. As a result, the scoreboard read 14:3, forcing the UNICS coaching staff to call a timeout. The greens didn't remember how to score from open play right away, while Zenit continued to extend their lead. Moon and Vorontsevich joined the three-point festival, and by the first break, the hosts' advantage looked more than convincing — 33:14.
In the second ten-minute period, UNICS pulled themselves together. An equal contest emerged on the court of the CSC Arena, although the pace of the game dropped somewhat. The teams exchanged successful runs, but in a situation where Kazan needed to catch up, Zenit, on the contrary, felt comfortable and kept the initiative in their hands. The Blue-White-Sky Blues' main weapon today worked especially well — three-point shots. For example, by the middle of the quarter, their shooting efficiency was 9 out of 16 (56.3%). The teams headed into the halftime break with a score of 55:37 in favor of the St. Petersburg side.
Several threes from Johnny and Zhora at the start of the second half made it clear: Zenit wasn't about to give up their advantage easily. At one point, the lead reached 24 points, but UNICS continued to score through prolonged possessions and didn't lose hope of a comeback. Meanwhile, the Blue-White-Sky Blues looked good in transition and narrowly won the quarter — 25:24 over the ten minutes, making it 80:61 on the scoreboard.
Kazan started the final period with a 6:2 run, cutting the deficit to 15 points, but that's where it ended. The visitors couldn't turn the game around, and the hosts continued to extend their lead and reached the hundred-point mark. The victory rightfully remained with Zenit — 103:74 and 2-1 in the series. For the second consecutive match, the top scorer for the St. Petersburg side was Johnny Juazang (22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block).
The fourth game of the VTB United League semifinal series will take place the day after tomorrow, May 19. The match will also be held in St. Petersburg at the CSC Arena. Tip-off is at 19:30 local time. Tickets are available on the club's website.
