By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In the last VTB League regular season game, Nizhniy Novgorod recorded a tough 92-86 home victory after overtime against Lokomotiv Kuban. Artem Komolov led the winners with 17 points while Stevan Jelovac helped him with 14 points. On the other side, Brian Qvale scored 17 points.
Despite trailing by as much as seventeen points (55-38) during the third quarter, Nizhniy Novgorod managed to come back and even lead by a two-point margin (76-74) in the last minute. Frank Elegar made two free throws to tie the game at 76 and take it into overtime in which the hosts were slightly calmer, made fewer mistakes and won in the end.
Zenit Saint Petersburg denied Tsmoki Minsk’s effort to clinch a playoff spot with an 83-76 home win, therefore leaving the eight place to VEF Riga. Marko Simonovic was the most efficient player for the hosts and in the game with 23 points while Kyle Kuric helped with 20 points. For Tsmoki, David Kravish was the best scorer with 15 points.
Earlier the same day, CSKA Moscow completed the regular season on a high note but, most importantly, saw Nando De Colo and Kyle Hines returning to action.
Also, both Khimki and Saratov got road wins with Avtodor finishing fifth in the regular season.
With today games, the regular season ended and the top eight teams qualified for the playoffs. The series are played in a best-of-five format with a 1–2–2 structure. Four teams that win their series advance to the Final Four which decides the champion.
The playoff matchups are as follows:
CSKA Moscow – VEF Riga
UNICS Kazan – Nizhniy Novgorod
Lokomotiv Kuban – Khimki Moscow Region
Zenit Saint Petersburg – Avtodor Saratov
VTB League Playoffs 2018 Bracket ? @cskabasket vs @vefriga@unicsbasket vs @BC_NN@lokobasket vs @Khimkibasket@zenitbasket vs @AvtodorSaratov
Check out playoffs schedule ?https://t.co/9IzqOlqKVA pic.twitter.com/BjVzR3Cjhg
— VTB United League (@VTBUL) May 12, 2018
Photo Credit: VTB League
VTB League Results (Saturday):
| HOME | AWAY | FT | HT | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT |
| BK ASTANA | AVTODOR | 75-92 | 39-41 | 19-23 | 20-18 | 17-21 | 19-30 | 0-0 |
| ENISEY | KHIMKI MOSCOW | 84-89 | 49-49 | 21-28 | 28-21 | 19-8 | 16-32 | 0-0 |
| PARMA BASKET PERM | CSKA MOSCOW | 76-111 | 38-64 | 19-33 | 19-31 | 17-26 | 21-21 | 0-0 |
| ZENIT SAINT PETERSBURG | BC TSMOKI MINSK | 83-76 | 53-38 | 24-17 | 29-21 | 19-26 | 11-12 | 0-0 |
| NIZHNIY NOVGOROD | LOKOMOTIV KUBAN | 92-86 | 35-42 | 17-23 | 18-19 | 20-19 | 21-15 | 16-10 |