Three regular-season games will take place on Wednesday.
BETCITY PARMA (Perm Krai) – UNICS (Kazan)
Time: 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. Moscow Time)
Venue: Russia, Perm, UDS “Molot”
Broadcast: Kinopoisk
BETCITY PARMA: The Perm team has gotten off to a strong start this season. Fast-paced basketball and the individual skills of their foreign players have allowed them to establish themselves among the league’s leaders. PARMA’s main problem so far has been a lack of consistency. This may be due to the team’s schedule; Evgeny Pashutin’s squad played 6 of their first 8 games on the road. Now, however, they’re returning to their home court. And “Molot’s” energy will drive the home team to victory in this matchup.
UNICS: For Kazan, the current season began with a home loss to PARMA. A month and a half has passed since that game, but the Kazan team has hardly had time to forget it. Milan Karakas’ team is traveling to Perm with the firm intention of getting revenge. Since their last game, the Volga-based team has fine-tuned its offensive game (averaging 94.3 points per game), and on “Molot’s” court, they’ll try to outscore the hosts with fast-paced, attacking basketball.
UNICS guard Brendan Adams: “Of course, I’m happy to be back in Perm and to play in an arena that holds so many great memories for me—and where I’ve always had a fantastic relationship with the fans. But the most important thing is for us to play well as a team and get the win. We’re at a crucial stage of the season, and it’s vital that we showcase a high level of basketball.”
CSKA (Moscow) vs. Dynamo (Vladivostok)
Time: 7:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. Moscow Time)
Venue: Russia, Moscow, “Basket Hall Moscow”
Broadcast: Kinopoisk
CSKA: The Army Men remain the only team that has yet to lose in the current championship. Moreover, the Muscovites have not lost at home since February 2025. CSKA’s home winning streak now stands at 33 games. But, as we all know, basketball is played by people, not numbers. And all streaks come to an end sooner or later. So in this matchup, if the hosts want to maintain their sole lead in the tournament, it will be crucial for them not to underestimate their opponent.
Dynamo: Vladivostok is heading to Moscow on the heels of a spectacular victory in Krasnoyarsk. Their offensive style of play and reliance on the individual skills of their foreign players brought them success against Enisey and have become a hallmark of the team. But in this game, the Primorye team’s offense faces its toughest test yet. After all, they’ll be up against the tournament’s best defense in the form of CSKA. And the visitors will only be able to pass this grueling test if they impose their own rhythm on the Army Men—a high-speed, back-and-forth style of play.
CSKA Head Coach Andreas Pistiolis: “It’s very important to stay focused and not lose concentration. We’re facing an opponent that has clearly improved in recent matches. They have some truly talented players on offense. For our part, we need to maintain our defensive focus—both in this game and moving forward, throughout the entire season.”
Dynamo Head Coach Sergei Kozin: “This is our second matchup against CSKA in the last month. Things didn’t go our way in the home game, and we lost by a fairly large margin. Now we’re heading to Moscow to face a team that remains undefeated this season in the VTB United League and has a long unbeaten streak at home. We’re working to improve our game and get better with every match. The upcoming game against CSKA will be a serious test for us and a good opportunity to see how much we’ve improved since our last meeting.”
Zenit (St. Petersburg) vs. Samara (Samara Region)
Time: 7:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. Moscow Time)
Venue: Russia, St. Petersburg, KSK “Arena”
Broadcast: Kinopoisk
Zenit: After losing to CSKA in Moscow, Zenit will look to get back on the winning track. The hosts will try to do so in their match against Samara. The St. Petersburg team will have extra motivation for this game. This will be the team’s only home game in the VTB League over the next month. So, ahead of the break, the blue-white-and-blue squad will try to give their fans as many positive emotions as possible.
Samara: The team has yet to secure a single victory in the current championship. But the visitors remain optimistic. Especially since there is some good news for them. Andrei Savrasov has returned from injury, and Artem Chevarenkov and Alexander Petenev—who missed the last few games—are back training with the team. The roster situation has been one of the main factors preventing the Volga team from getting off to a good start this season. But perhaps as early as this game, the visitors will take the court with a lineup close to their best.
Zenit Head Coach Duško Ivanović: “I feel the same way I did before the first game. Samara is playing well. They move the ball effectively, and given their roster, they’re putting up a solid performance. But for us, it’s more important to stay true to ourselves. In the game against CSKA, we didn’t play our best—not at all the way we should have. We need to get back on track: show solid defense and fight hard.”
Samara Head Coach Miloš Pavičević: “We played our first game against Zenit in Samara quite recently—at the end of October. But I’m confident that over the past three weeks, this team has become even stronger. The St. Petersburg squad has been bolstered by Marcus Howard—the EuroLeague’s top scorer. And he’s shown his prowess right from the start. I’ve already spoken about the opponent’s other players—the team has a very solid roster capable of tackling major challenges.
We came to St. Petersburg not with a sense of defeat, but with a desire to play and give Zenit a run for their money. All the guys are taking this seriously; nobody likes to lose, and we really want to turn our tournament situation around. We’ll try to give our opponent a run for their money through discipline on the court; for a successful outcome, every player must give 200–300 percent. The match will show how well that works out.”
