The first 100 piece
Anadolu Efes, which underwent a major roster overhaul this summer, made its debut in the League Super Cup. And it went smoothly. Everything went right for the starred EuroLeague team featuring Dario Šarić, Mike James, and Kai Jones. The Turks dominated their opponent on the boards (45-22), shot 44% from beyond the arc, and frequently converted points on the freethrow line (28 attempts to St. Petersburg’s 9). After scoring 27 points in the first 10 minutes, Efes maintained that pace and finished with an impressive 100 points—a +26 margin and a strong statement of their overall dominance.
This is Zenit’s second loss in two days, and they now face a consolation match for 6th or 7th place.
The Reunion
Jordan Loyd and Sergey Karasev won the United League championship with Zenit four years ago. Today, they faced off on the court again, this time as rivals.
The Transformation
Kai Jones, the 19th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and a social media sensation in the basketball world, claimed a few years ago that he could beat LeBron James one-on-one, shoot better than Michael Jordan, and even declared himself the greatest player of all time. At Efes, the center has come to his senses and proved himself on the court today—11 points, 8 rebounds, and 5-for-5 from the field.
The Return
Mike James, a familiar face to Moscow fans, has returned to Moscow as the new star of Anadolu Efes. The former CSKA player helped his team secure the victory with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Ambitions
Another key Efes player that spent some years of his career in Russia, Jordan Lloyd, stated that the Turkish team intends to become the first foreign team to lift the VTB United League Super Cup.
“I have many memories connected to Russia, including winning the championship. Of course, those are good memories. I have a lot of friends at Zenit, which made me want to beat them even more today. Five consecutive wins by Russian teams? We’re here to break that streak. Our goal is to win the tournament.”
Unexpected upset
CSKA, a three-time Super Cup champion and winner of the last two tournaments, started with a confident victory over Igokea but was unable to build on that success. Lokomotiv-Kuban, which lost to CSKA in five games in the 2026 playoff semifinals, had an impressive offseason and has now delighted fans on the court. The Krasnodar team shut down the perimeter (8-for-30, 26.7% from beyond the arc for the red-and-blues), dominated the boards (45-23), and the duo of Patrick Miller and Alen Hadžibegović received solid support from newcomers Marcos Knight, Aleksej Pokusevski, and Andrey Lopatin. At one point during the game, the southerners led by more than 20 points, but ultimately secured the rematch with a more modest score—90–82.
On Saturday, Lokomotiv could secure a spot in the final with a win over the Bosnian team.
Highlight
Alen Hadžibegović struck the ball with all his might.
Quote
Zenit center Alex Poythress has no friends on the court.
– You’ve played with a lot of guys on the opposing team. Did you talk about anything before or after the game? Any stories?
– Stories? No… You see, when we’re on the court, we’re opponents; first and foremost, we’re competing, so we don’t talk during the game. Off the court we’re friends, but in the game we’re rivals—there’s no friendship there. But off the court we’re still friends; we get along just fine—as teammates, former or current, it doesn’t matter—we’re like family.
