The first quarter wasn’t particularly high-scoring, but it was full of back-and-forth action and momentum swings. Astana opened with a solid 5-0 run, but Crawford and Petenev quickly responded for Avtodor, evening things up. Both teams exchanged attacks, with Astana briefly leading 14:11, before the visitors took control and ended the quarter up by 5.
The second quarter proved to be the most difficult for Gleb Plotnikov’s team. Despite efforts to maintain pace—and even a three-pointer from Rustam Murzagaliev giving a glimmer of hope—the 14:1 run by Avtodor, led by Petenev and Manning, began to tip the scales. By halftime, Avtodor had built a comfortable +19 lead.
Unfortunately, the start of the third quarter didn’t bring much change. Turnovers piled up for Astana, and Avtodor punished every mistake, dominating the stretch 4:16. There was a brief spark toward the end of the period when T.J. Starks became more aggressive on drives, but the lead had already grown to +30.
Just when the outcome seemed clear, Astana began to find some rhythm in the fourth quarter. Vadim Shcherbak, Danila Pokhodyaev (twice), and Rustam Aitkali hit three-pointers in a late scoring burst. Unfortunately, the comeback came too late to change the outcome.
Final Score:
Astana – Avtodor 56:88 (15:20, 10:24, 15:26, 16:18)
Astana: Rustam Murzagaliev (11 points, 4 assists), Danila Pokhodyaev (9 points, 5 rebounds), T.J. Starks (9 points, 5 assists), Daniel Utomi (8 points).
Gleb Plotnikov, Acting Head Coach of Astana:
“A terrible game. Some of our players need to reevaluate who they are and reflect on the meaning of professionalism. The word ‘professional’ doesn’t just mean showing up and playing—it’s about the sacrifices you make every day to improve. When a player is focused on something other than the game during the match, it's hard to motivate him.
The stats speak for themselves—25% from three, 31% from the field, and 14 turnovers that they punished us for. As I told the guys, Avtodor is a very solid team. They were focused and played like a team today. We were not. As for injuries—Sasha Orazbekov has a broken nose, and Grigory Motovilov is still recovering. Unfortunately, we are not playing in a way that brings joy to our fans right now.”
