Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar and Kazan will host 3 regular season games on Saturday.
Uralmash (Yekaterinburg) vs Runa (Moscow)
Time: 16:00 (14:00 MSC)
Place: Russia, Yekaterinburg, DIVS.
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Uralmash: The team’s impressive winning streak could ended against Avtodor. Even at the halftime, hardly anyone could have predicted it – Uralmash won the first half by 20 points. But then the Saratov team sharply picked up the pace, made one of the biggest comebacks of the season, and could have pulled out the win. Kirill Pisklov made the game-winning shot. Although the game was not easy for Uralmash, the team was able to win without their leaders (Stanley Whittaker and Octavius Ellis) against a team that needed the win much more. Rostislav Vergun team can quietly experiment in the final round in anticipation of the Play-in – Uralmash will face Samara on April 17.
Runa: Runa started the season much more confidently than Uralmash, but the teams have different statuses now. While Uralmash is the main favorite for the Play-in, Saturday game will be the end of the season for Runa after the loss to MBA. The win over MINSK already meant nothing for the Moscow team. It is already known that Juwan Morgan moved to Zenit. It’s likely that the two teams will review the bench players in this game, especially since the status of Whittaker and Ellis is still unknown.
Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar) vs Enisey (Krasnoyarsk)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, Start Triumph, League website
Lokomotiv Kuban: After losing at home to Zenit, the Krasnodar team finally gave up hope of finishing in the Top 3. Despite that, Aleksander Sekulic team must approach the game against Enisey with all the responsibility for the loss to the St. Petersburg team in their last home game of the regular season. Another motivation is to win the season series against the Siberian team. Loko currently leads 2-1 in that series – after losing at the start of the season, the Krasnodar team then took 2 straight wins. Unless Loko coach decides to give his leaders a rest before the Playoffs, DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell should prove against the Krasnoyarsk team. Loko forward looked clearly below his usual level in the game with Zenit, and Akoon-Purcell usually doesn’t allow 2 consecutive losses.
Enisey: The Krasnoyarsk team will also under no circumstances be able to rise above the current 6th place. One of the main sensations of the first leg, the next stage was much weaker – the Siberians can only record two wins over CSKA, which were the only victories for Jovica Arsic’s squad in the second leg. But even though the game against Loko has no significance, it could be a curious duel. After the rivalry between Astana and MBA, it became known that Astana guard Karvel Anderson joined Lokomotiv Kuban. At the moment he leads the United League in three-point shots made (117), and played 3 games less than Xavier Rathan-Mayes with 111. It won’t be easy for his rival to catch up with Anderson, but if the American guard play against Enisey.
UNICS (Kazan) vs CSKA (Moscow)
Time: 18:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website.
UNICS: The main game of the regular season will be on Saturday. The Top 2 team will find out in the last round who will be the winner of the 2023/24 regular season. This is the game not only for first place, but also for second place – the loser risks taking third place if Zenit beats PARMA the next day. UNICS is technically the favorite: the Kazan team plays at home, while CSKA has lost 3 of last 4 road games. However, UNICS has lost 3 games in a row, last winning on March 21. Without Dmitry Kulagin and Marcos Knight, UNICS’ defense has yet to reach its usual level, allowing to score 89-91 points in the last 4 games.
CSKA: The Moscow team can also complain about key player injury – Casper Ware has been out since mid-February. However, CSKA lost to the Kazan team in February with Ware in the lineup, and the Moscow team win in November was achieved through defense and bigmen performance (Ware made only 2 of 8 shots in that game). At this stage, it’s much more important to see how Olivier Hanlan perform, who was signed to replace Ware and is gradually adapting to Emil Rajkovic system. In the last 3 games, the American guard has found stability, scoring at least 15 points in each game, but Hanlan still has trouble scoring long-range shots. The Army team lacks a clear leader compared to UNICS, where Nenad Dimitrijevic shines, so the team will try to rely on tight defense. At the same time, CSKA continues to strengthen the roster – Aleksandr Gankevich joined the team and may debut in Kazan.
