Moscow will host a regular season game on Thursday.
CSKA (Moscow) vs Runa (Moscow)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Strana, TV Start, League website
CSKA: Despite the road lose to Loko, the Army team continue to lead the standings, UNICS is 3 wins away. Emil Rajkovic team will spend the rest of the first stage in Moscow – 5 home games and a road game against MBA, while CSKA has lost only once at home this season. The size advantage provided by Tonye Jekiri and Amath M’Baye (averaging 10 rebounds) will play an important role in the showdown with Runa. Melo Trimble is gradually becoming the team’s leader. The guard is averaging 23 points coming off the bench in 2024. A stacked frontcourt and Trimble skills make CSKA the favorite in the first game of the home series.
Runa: Erturul Erdogan team has only 1 win in 6 games. Such losing ratio can be considered as a lack of concentration in the endings – the games against UNICS and Enisey ended with an average difference of 6.5 points. Before February, the team will have to play not CSKA, but also Loko and Zenit. To maintain 9th place in the standings, Runa needs to improve the game quality in the fourth quarter and progress in rebounding (33.4 rebounds on average – 8th in the League).
