«Химки» Химки, Россия vs. «Автодор» Саратов, Россия

Khimki won their season opener at home against Saratov’s Avtodor – 87:84 despite the visitors’ fast lead in the 1st quarter, which lasted for the better part of the contest. Late game rally, however, allowed Khimki to come out victorious.

The Plot.

Avtodor were dominant in the 1st quarter and even though Travis Peterson is the only one starter remaining from last year, they looked like they played together for years. Malcolm Armstead distributed the ball well and Saratov were able to play inside-out, score on the drive and deliver from three (4/5). Khimki looked stunned and at times relied too much on 1-on-1 isolation plays. The first period ended with the score 14:32.

The second quarter started with a four-point play by Tyrese Rice, which was followed by a Egor Vyaltsev’s three. The Yellow and Blue cut the lead before halftime to six - 41:47.

Avtodor remained completive and held off Khimki in most part thanks to their sixth man Jeremy Chappell. A contested three, an assist for Jeffrey Brooks’ dunk and a two-pointer all came within a couple of minutes and Black and White were in the lead heading into the final period (68:62). Although the lead went up to double digitsб Khimki never seemed out of it completely.
Brooks committed an unnecessary foul on Shved’s 3-point attempt which led to a start of a run by Khimki. In just about a minute they only trailed by two points: Rice knocked down a 3, and Tyler Honeycutt added a miss off the O-board. The fans got into it with the chanting and Khimki’s playmakers took care of business at the line to cap off the first win.

The key moment
Avtodor kept themselves in it until the very end, they had possession and were down 82:84 with only 21 seconds to go in regulation, inbounded the ball to Peterson, who launched a three that was rejected by Sergey Monya. Khimki wouldn’t allow any second chances as Rice stole an inbound pass and the game was sealed at the line. Avtodor put up an effort deserving of a W, but came up short in the end against the title favorites - 84:87.

The Hero
Tyrese Rice. Simply put, without Rice there would be no tonight’s win for Khimki. We’re not only talking about the 30 points clinic and the 9/13 shooting outing, but the timing on those shots and the overall contribution as a playmaker at both ends. Who do you think came up with a key steal to put the game in the freezer?

The Number
20 – Is a number of turnovers your team can’t commit if you want to beat Khimki.

Comments:

Rimas Kurtinaitis, Khimki’s head coach

First and foremost we won the game and I’m happy to acknowledge that fact. All of you saw what kind of effort was put out there by the team from Saratov, if anyone had counted them out as outsiders you might eat your words. They came here and displayed disciplined team basketball. It was our character and ability to play under pressure that we won by, so I would like to thank my players for the win. This gives us an idea of what the games are going to be like in VTB United League this season, I want to believe we’ve learned our lesson from this game and we won’t make the same mistakes.

Brad Greenberg, Avtodor’s head coach
I’m satisfied with the work we’ve done in preparing for this game, our season opener was against one of the best teams on the Continent. I can point to a lot of positives, but I can’t get over us turning the ball over so much, especially when we know that pressure is coming. We let Khimki back in the game in the second and in the fourth quarters, allowed them to make a comeback. We should have been able to hold on to a 10-point lead in the 2nd half. My hat is off to Khimki and the cold blooded shooting that ultimately put us on our backs.