Astana's Hot-And-Cold Performance vs. Tsmoki

Week Eight opened with an exciting game in Astana as the home team erased a 10-point deficit in the final minutes to force overtime against Minsk.

Konstantin Kucher analyzes the game's key moments for Breaking It Down.

Astana came roaring back in impressive fashion. The home team trailed by 10 points at the 1:40 mark. Tsmoki-Minsk even had possession after Ivan Maras rebounded a Nik Caner-Medley miss. The game appeared to be over.

But Anatoly Kolesnikov refused to fold, turning Aliaksandr Kudrautsau over in the backcourt and laying the ball in for two quick points.  

Astana forced three more turnovers over the next 60 seconds, twice trapping Tsmoki's ball-handler on the sideline.

The other turnover came after Kudrautsau had the ball poked out from behind.

Astana needed only 30 seconds to cut the deficit to four. Kenneth Hayes took care of the rest. He's been terrific for Astana this season and came up big again on Saturday.

The guard scored Astana's final five points in regulation, evening the score at 77-77. 

Hayes also provided excellent defense against Branko Mirkovic during Tsmoki's final possession, refusing to bite on the Tsmoki point guard's shot fake.

But Astana came up short in overtime, primarily because of defense. Pavel Ilyin proved to be the weak link for the home team.

After switching on defense, Ilyin had no shot at stopping Maras under the basket. 

On Tsmoki's next possession, Ilyin got caught flat-footed, allowing Mirkovic to drive into the paint and find an open Maras on the perimeter.

Ilyin also failed to prevent Mirkovic's game-winning shot. Trying to defend the pick-and-roll, Ilyin went over the screen.

That gave Mirkovic the extra step he needed to drive the lane and score on a layup.

Hayes, however, was also to blame as he failed to protect the paint from a driving Mirkovic.

Inexplicably, Hayes stepped out of the way right as Mirkovic entered the lane.

Astana has played tough in its last two games. Despite losing several key players to injury, the Kazakhs continue to compete. Against both VEF and Tsmoki-Minsk, Ramunas Butautas's men put together phenomenal comebacks, only to come up just short at the end. Don't be surprised if they are rewarded soon.

Konstantin Kucher