St. Petersburg will host WINLINE Game of the Week between Zenit and Lokomotiv Kuban on Wednesday.
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, KSK Arena
Time: December 17, 2025, 19:00
Broadcasts: Match TV, Start Triumph, League website
Rivalry
The top teams finished the regular season with a 2-2 record, beating each other time and time again on the road. Things got even more interesting in the Playoffs, where the rivlals played in Semifinals. The epic series stretched to 7 games—this rivalry will go down in history—and ended with a big win for Zenit in the decisive game in St. Petersburg. Zenit advanced, but Lokomotiv wore opponents down so much that the St. Petersburg team simply did not have enough strength for the Finals against CSKA.
The teams have played 44 games in total, with Zenit slightly ahead – 23:21.
The first clash between Lokomotiv Kuban and Zenit in the new season ended with the Krasnodar team win – 89:80.
Intrigue
Compared to the clash between the top clubs on November 9, there will be different teams. At the time, Zenit did not have newcomers Luka Samanic and Noah Vonleh, while Nenad Dimitrijevic and Georgy Zhbanov were injured. After the loss in Krasnodar, the St. Petersburg team strengthened its lineup, began to gain momentum, and won 5 out of 6 games, losing only to CSKA. Zenit has regrouped, overcome crisis and is preparing to test the potential of refreshed team against opponents from the leading group—after the battle with Lokomotiv Kuban, matches against UNICS and BETCITY PARMA will follow. Zenit has yet to beat any of its main rivals in the Top 4 this season: 4 games, 4 losses.
The Krasnodar team is in almost the same situation. The win over Zenit started a 5-game winning streak that lifted Anton Yudin team to 3rd place. But then Lokomotiv Kuban began to integrate new players—B.J Johnson and Mike Moore, who were signed very recently. Since the season resumed, the Krasnodar team has suffered 2 losses in 2 games (CSKA, BETCITY PARMA), and now Loko urgently needs to get back to winning.
Situation
Zenit and Lokomotiv, both with 10-5 records, share third place in the standings, with Zenit ahead due additional stats. MBA-MAI (9-5) and BETCITY PARMA (9-6) are close behind, while leaders CSKA (13-2) and UNICS (12-2) have pulled away .
The winner of the Game of the Week will move into 3rd place.
Family ties
During the offseason, 3 Russian players moved from Krasnodar to St. Petersburg. Andrei Martiuk and Vladislav Emchenko, as well as Dmitrii Uzinskii were still delighting Krasnodar team fans not so long ago.
Zenit new head coach Aleksander Sekulic led Lokomotiv Kuban from 2022 to 2024.
Numbers
Zenit and Loko are represented in the League’s Top 10 most effective players by Andrei Martiuk (17.1 points, 10th) and Patrick Miller (20.3, 5th).
The St. Petersburg team leads the league in three-point shooting percentage with 40.8%.
Lokomotiv Kuban is at 1st place in steals with 9.3 per game.
Zenit has not lost at home in more than 2 months, since October 12.
