Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Minsk and St. Petersburg will host 4 regular season games on Sunday.
Uralmash (Yekaterinburg) vs Astana (Astana)
Time: 15:00 (13:00 Moscow time)
Venue: Russia, Yekaterinburg, DIVS.
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Uralmash: The Yekaterinburg team couldn’t find a key to Samara defense – 5 of 17 three-pointers and only 64 points. The loss pushed Rostislav Vergun team back to 8th place. A win over Astana could help to strength the place in the standings before a difficult road trip to Krasnoyarsk and Moscow. A key aspect of the game against the Kazakh team will be the perimeter defense – Markell Johnson and Carvell Anderson score nearly 40% of the team’s points.
Astana: The loss to PARMA the 4th in a row. Oleg Kiselev team missed a 16-point lead and lost in overtime. Lack of stability didn’t allow Astana to win – the second half of the last 2 games were lost with a total 33-point difference. But the team has a chance to rehabilitate, the Kazakh team will have to play only once against a Top-5 opponent. Astana will try to break the losing streak against Uralmash, which they have already beaten this season.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) vs Samara (Samara)
Time: 14:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, SKK Nagorny
Broadcast: Match! Strana, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: In their last game, Nizhny lost to MBA and their chances of getting into the Top 6. After Samara, Nizhny Novgorod will face CSKA, Loko and Zenit, so the result of this game is crucial to continue their fight for the Playoffs in the second round. The Volga derby of the first round ended with Samara win in a tense ending. For revenge, Zoran Lukic will have to solve the problem with perimeter defense – in the 2 previous games Pari NN opponents made 38% and 56% three-pointers and Samarais the second best in the League.
Samara: The win in a crucial game against Uralmash strengthened Samara’s 7th place. But to get into the Top 6, the team still need to beat PARMA, which is 8-3 since the second half of November. The team’s main weapon remains three-point shots. Over the last 8 games, Samara has never lost to opponents below 5th place in the standings. The team is going to Nizhny Novgorod as a favorite.
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Belarus, Minsk, Falcon Club
Broadcast: League website
MINSK: MINSK started the year with road games against Uralmash and Zenit, which ended with huge losses. But MINSK performs much better at home – the overtime game against Astana and the tense ending against Loko happened in Belarus. Returning home may give the team motivation to break the long losing streak. Therefore, the upcoming game will be a good opportunity for MINSK to get their first win of the season.
MBA: The Moscow team offense has been transformed since the New Year’s break – Vasily Karasev players scored 93 points on 52% from the game in 2 last games. MBA has never won 3 in a row this season. The game with MINSK will be a good opportunity to accomplish this achievement and get closer to Astana. MINSK and MBA commit the most fouls in the League (48.7 fouls combined on average), but the Moscow team has a higher free throw percentage.
Zenit (St. Petersburg) vs Avtodor (Saratov)
Time: 16:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, KSC Arena
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Zenit: Zenit continue to gain momentum after a big loss to Loko. The team has already defeated PARMA and MINSK at the start of 2024, and wins in the next 2 games against Avtodor and UNICS could help to get the 2nd place in the standings. Zenit offense has become much more varied due to Adrien Moermann. The experienced French bigman has had 2 of his best games of the season, averaging 14.5 points per game. The team’s defense has also been transformed thanks to Georgy Zhbanov, who has recovered from injury and proved that he is still one of the best defenders in the League. So Xavier Pascual has everything he needs to stop Malik Newman and Avtodor bigmen.
Avtodor: Malik Newman has scored 20 and 31 points in the last 2 games, proving that he is ready to be the team’s leader for the rest of the season. Avtodor is having a good stretch with 3 wins and 1 loss, putting them 1 win away from 7th place and keeping their chances of making the Top 6. In the game against Zenit, Milenko Bogicevic team will try to get revenge for the loss in the first round. It’s worth noting that last season the Volga team with Newman in their lineup managed to beat the St. Petersburg team by a 12-point difference in total.
