Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Nikita Khartchenkov at the 2023 NBBL top 4 in Frankfurt, Germany

There have been incredible scoring masterpieces in NBA History like when Wilt Chamberlain went for 100 points, or who could forget the 81 point explosion of Kobe Bryant. Recently Luka Doncic went for 73 points and one can only wonder when he will get 80. Fans want to see scoring and even if you don´t get that high clip of scoring overseas like you do in the NBA, it does happen. The record in Germany in a first division game is held by Keith Gray who scored 65 points in 1988. Since then guys have gone for 40 plus points in all leagues, heck Jonathan Braeger scored 100 points in a Regionalliga game in 2022, but did only face 3 guys on the floor for the majority of the game. Last weekend another incredible high scoring game was produced in a Regionalliga game by Canadian Justin Andrew as he scorched Salzkotten for an insane 55 points. But what made this feat so unique was the high number of three´s he made and his potent shooting percentage. His teammate Nikita Khartchenkov has been no slouch when it comes to scoring as he has been a scoring and three point sniper machine for more than 2 decades, but what he witnessed Andrew do is something that really amazed him. “It was a super great performance. I already knew his game from last season when he played with Bonn. I liked his game then, but what he did last weekend was at a totally different level. He could make any shot he took no matter how the defense played him. He missed his last 2 shots and was 14/17 before the last 2 shots. I mean to shoot like that in a practice is great, but to do it in a game with different defenses, is so much more respectable. I was so proud to have seen it with my own eyes”, stressed ETB Miners Essen guard Nikita Khartchenkov (201-SF-1987).

Nikita Khartchenkov is a player that has celebrated a very long career spanning more than two decades and just doesn´t slow down. At age 37, he has played more than 500 games. Currently he is playing for his 16th professional team and third year with the ETB Miners Essen. He played for clubs like TV Langen, Khimki Moscow, Braunschweig, Chemnitz, MBC, Duesseldorf, Freiburg, Sibu (Romania), Leipzig, Hagen, Schalke and Iserlohn. He played 114 easyCredit BBL games and 72 pro A games and shot 40% or better from outside in 7 seasons. He didn´t play in the 55 point game, but had a front row seat and definitely enjoyed every moment of it. He definitely knew what Andrew was capable of, but did he ever imagine him being able to net 55 points in a game? “Scoring 55 points is never easy, but you have to ask yourself, how could he do it on a team like ours? We have a deep roster where our 1-5 position players have no problem scoring the ball. There isn´t much chance of getting 30 plus points on our team and nobody plays 38 minutes a game. We like to play inside out and play to our strengths, so making 55 points is so respectable. I remember him making 30 points against us with Bonn with hands in his face. I never thought he could make 55”, said Nikita Khartchenkov. Andrew and Essen destroyed Salzkotten 125-88 and one has to wonder if he could have had 60 points, because he wasn´t hitting on all cylinders when the game began. “He started a bit cold. He missed his first few shots and went out. When he came back in near the end of the first quarter, he began hitting three after three and playing good basketball. At halftime, he had 22 points and I told him to remain hungry and don´t be satisfied”, said Nikita Khartchenkov. After 40 minutes the stat line of Justin Andrew was 35 minutes and 55 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. You would imagine the normal congrats after a monumental game like that, but the Miners have their own special way of celebrating something great. “When Justin or I or other guys make a three, we yell Boo. I yelled Boo after the game to him and hugged him and shook his hand”, smiled Nikita Khartchenkov.

Justin Andrew shot an insane 20/27 from the field and what is even more amazing was that he was doing other duties on the court besides only shooting out the lights. “That shooting percentage is crazy. He shot incredible, but at the same time was still creating for others and was just doing the right things. He also wasn´t forcing shots which is incredible. He made the right decisions and that just speaks for him as a really good player”, stated Nikita Khartchenkov. His shooting percentage from the field was already difficult to believe, but probably his biggest achievement in this game was his execution of 14 three´s which must be a German Regionalliga record. “This is unbelievable. I mean to make 14 three´s with only 27 attempts is really very difficult to believe. I was amazed when my good friend Marco Buljevic made 11 three´s this season, but 14 from Justin is just wow. I don´t think that’s I ever made 10 three´s in a game. I really wonder how he did that. It just looked so easy. So many of his threes were in isolation. In my prime, it wasn´t usual to play 1-1 and have to create. Basketball has changed so much since Steph Curry came and began taking so many three´s. Back in the day, it was normal to take something like 8 three´s, but now guys are attempting 18 or 19 three´s a game”, commented Nikita Khartchenkov. Did this one game take Andrew to a new level in his game? “He is still the same Justin Andrew in practice. You can´t really expect him to make 50 points again in the next game. We will do all we can to make him feel comfortable on the court. That game was out of the ordinary. Important for him will be to keep his hunger and not be satisfied”, warned Nikita Khartchenkov.

Making 14 three´s was historical, but just how much extra weight can one seriously put on his unique feat knowing just how lethal of a scoring team the ETB Miners Essen are? “To be honest with the type of scoring team that we have, being able to score 55 points seems impossible. But we are a team that just gives the ball to the guy that is super hot. In the game against Salzkotten, it just seemed to be him. Nobody is jealous on the team. We know that many guys get hot so we just play to our strength. Justin was hot, so we just kept feeding him. That’s just how it works. If he would have been 100 degrees colder, he still would have scored, but there would have been somebody else scoring more and getting the ball more”, explained Nikita Khartchenkov. Another crazy fact is that Justin Andrew actually tied the NBA record of most three´s ever made in a game which Splash brother Klay Thompson achieved and at the same time has to realize that he actually has made more three´s in a game than the great Steph Curry. “That is mind boggling. If you do the math, NBA guys have longer games as well. What Justin did is simply sensational. He will be able to tell his grandchildren one day that he scored 55 points in a game and made 14 three´s”, explained Nikita Khartchenkov. He may not make 14 again, but could he hit 10 three´s in a game on a regular basis? “I think that teams will scout him a little differently even if they already knew he could make three´s. I mean if he feels on fire and see´s the target, he will just keep shooting and making shots. That is just the type of player he is”, stressed Nikita Khartchenkov. So what exactly happened after the big win and 55 points? Usually the guy that makes the 100th point have to bring a cake? Was there a cake from Justin Andrew? “I told Justin to bake a cake. But there was no cake. He just isn´t ready to bake a cake yet”, laughed Nikita Khartchenkov. He may not be ready for a cake yet, but this brutal sniper will be ready for the next rim this weekend and continue to fire away and score, score, score.