Samara will host regular season game on Wednesday.
Samara (Samara) vs Astana (Astana)
Time: 19:30 (18:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Samara, SKK “Dvorets Sporta”.
Broadcast: Start, VTB United League website
Samara: In the battle of the Group B leders, Samara lost. However, compared to Uralmash, the team has 1 game in asset, so in case of win Samara will be separated from the newcomer by just 1 win. There are still chances to take the lead in the Group. The more important for Drazen Anzulovic team will be the game with Astana. Samara dominated in rebounds, but made 22 turnovers in the previous game. That’s what the Volga team coach called the main reason for the loss. Samara should go into the game with a double mindset – the last time the team played at home a month ago and lost to Runa by 98 points. The hosts will probably try to give their fans a long-awaited win this time.
Astana: The coach change has not yet had a noticeable effect. The Kazakh team has already managed to take 1 win with Takianos, but it was against MINSK. At the same time, it can not be said that the Belarussian team looked weaker than Astana. The Kazakh team has played 2 fewer games than Nizhny Novgorod, so their place in the battle for the play-in game remains quite strong. However, a loss to Samara will make it as difficult as possible for Astana to fight back – Takianos’ team has nowhere to go. Especially since its schedule is not easy in the near future – 2 road games, and then versus Uralmash. Astana coach needs to do something about the perimeter defense: the Kazakh team missed 12 three-pointers from Nizhny with a 42.9 percentage, and now will face one of the best long-range shooting teams in the League (Samara shares second place with UNICS in three-pointers made with 37.7%).
