Decin — USK Praha: 74:57, NBL

Dečín secured a 74-57 win over USK Prague in the Czech NBL on Wednesday, closing out a fixture that followed a familiar pattern. And here's the thing — this wasn't a surprise outcome. We had called for the home side at 56 per cent confidence before kickoff, and the result confirmed that assessment without fanfare.

The hosts controlled tempo from the opening tip, building a lead that USK Prague never seriously threatened to close. By then, the visitors were already three possessions behind and had conceded too many easy transition opportunities. Dečín's defence held firm, limiting the away side to 29.8 per cent from the field.

To be fair, USK Prague found some rhythm from distance, hitting 7 of 26 three-point attempts, but that wasn't enough to offset their struggles inside. They converted only 17 of 57 field goals and managed just 14 assists across the contest. Their 15 turnovers compounded the problem, handing Dečín extra possessions when they needed to respond.

Dečín's shooting was inefficient by their standards — 25 of 69 from the field and just 5 of 28 from three — but their free-throw accuracy of 86.4 per cent and dominance on the boards made up for it. They pulled down 42 rebounds to 34, with 11 offensive boards giving them second-chance opportunities that never materialised for Prague.

The result keeps Dečín in fourth place with 14 wins from 22 games, while USK Prague remain rooted in 11th with only five victories. The gap between them in the standings is now 19 points, and the visitors have lost 17 of their 22 matches. This was a fixture where the table told the story before the tip-off.