VTB United League. BC Khimki vs. Nizhny Novgorod21 february 2016

‪BC Khimki‬ lost to BC Nizhny Novgorod in a VTB United League home game — 74-82 (22-20, 18-24, 16-24, 18-14) with 21 pts and 10 assists by Shved. The next game our team will play in Moscow on Thursday, February 25, 2016 vs. CSKA. The beginning of the meeting is at 19.00 msk.

BC Khimki: Shved (21 + 10 assists), Augustine (16 + 7 rebounds), Davis (10), Dragic (8 + 8 rebounds), Monya (7 + 3 rebounds), Koponen (5 + 4 rebounds + 3 assists), Honeycutt (4 + 11 rebounds), Vyaltsev (3), Boone, Sokolov.

Post-game quotes

Ainars Bagatskis, Nizhny Novgorod head coach:

"Prior to the game, I told my players that Khimki is one of the best up-tempo teams in the VTB League and the Euroleague. Our first and most important challenge was to play smart and disciplined on offense, in order to prevent our opponent from scoring any easy points. We more or less were able to do that at the start of the game. The biggest thing after fast breaks was getting back to play five-on-five. At the same time, in order to beat a team like Khimki, you need a few things to go your way. First of all, we had to give 100% on defense, though sometimes even that's not enough. It was today. Our opponent had open looks, but, luckily for us, they didn't make them. We had a true leader on the court, Khvostov, who got everyone going. Everyone on the court did their job well. We're happy for this win, but it's already in the past and there's no euphoria from it".

Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:

"Give credit to Nizhny Novgorod. They traveled to Khimki without a full roster, but were extremely focused. They were disciplined and consistent and controlled the entire game. We expected something to change, but nothing did. Both Nizhny and our team had something to do with that. We weren't aggressive or energetic enough on defense and we were inaccurate on offense. We made a lot of mistakes, not to mention our primary weapon: the 3-point shot. Unfortunately, this isn't our first time to struggle so much. We only hit three of 24 attempts today. It's very tough to win with a percentage like that. It's always tough to play against Nizhny Novgorod, which they've proved time and again. We could have avoided this loss. Some of our players don't have enough pride and want to take it easy. You can't win big games with that type of attitude".