Schedule
Game 1. June 1, 19:30 (Moscow Time), St. Petersburg, CSC Arena
Game 2. June 3, 19:30 (Moscow Time), St. Petersburg, CSC Arena
Game 3. June 7, 16:00 (Moscow Time), Krasnodar, Basket Hall
Game 4. June 9, 20:00 (Moscow Time), Krasnodar, Basket Hall*
Game 5. June 12, 13:00 (Moscow Time), St. Petersburg, CSC Arena*
* – if necessary
Regular Season
Zenit: 3rd place (28 wins and 12 losses)
Lokomotiv Kuban: 4th place (27 wins and 13 losses)
Head-to-Head This Season
The first clash between Loko and Zenit in the 2025/26 season at Basket-Hall ended with hosts win – 89–80. The St. Petersburg team took convincing revenge in next game -98–69. The third clash also ended with hosts win – 95–85 in Krasnodar.
The top teams finished the series in the 2024/25 regular season with a 2-2 record, beating each other on the road games. This scenario almost played out in reverse, but the final game between the teams in the regular season on March 22 in St. Petersburg ended with the Krasnodar team win – 81-72 and 3-1 in the series.
Why can Zenit win?
Zenit struggled throughout the entire regular season. The Playoffs were no exception: ahead of the 3rd Place Series, the club fired head coach Dejan Radonjic. This is actually the second dismissal of the season—in January, the Montenegrin replaced Aleksander Sekulic. And yet, the quality of the players and the depth of the roster ensure that the St. Petersburg team remains one of the strongest in the League. Versatile roster is Zenit’s key advantage in this series.
Trent Frazier, Xavier Moon and Johnny Juzang are top-tier players capable of leading Zenit to win in both games and series. The St. Petersburg team is also strong in defense with Georgy Zhbanov and Andre Roberson. Up front are top-tier bigman Luka Samanic, the hard-working and athletic former Krasnodar team player Andrei Martiuk, and the highly experienced Andrei Vorontsevich.
Zenit is traditionally strong in defense, poses a threat from the perimeter, is capable of shifting the offensive focus into the paint at any moment and maintains a high pace.
Why can Lokomotiv Kuban win?
At the start of the season, Lokomotiv Kuban played a historically unusual positional style, even becoming the slowest team in the League for a time. With the arrival of Tomislav Tomovic in January, the picture changed completely. The new head coach brought the Krasnodar team back to familiar fast-pace. Aggressive defense, lightning-fast breaks, pressure in the paint, enthusiasm of young talented Russians, and the individual skill of international players led by Patrick Miller—these are the main strengths of the team with the Serbian coach.
The familiar, aggressive, fast-paced Loko gradually picked up steam and performed excellently in the first round, where it faced BETCITY PARMA—the Perm team had repeatedly defeated all Top 4 teams during the regular season, but lost to the Krasnodar team without any chance.
Passion, energy, and the right mindset could be the key factors in this series. In the Semifinals, Loko lost to CSKA, which looks stronger overall this season as well—the Moscow team is stronger at the moment. Zenit, meanwhile, lost to UNICS in a dramatic 7-game series after leading 3-1. Mentally, it is much harder to recover from. On top of that, there is the factor of physical fatigue—Loko had more time to rest.
X-Factor
Following the conclusion of the semifinal series against UNICS, Zenit announced the parting ways with
It is believed that a change of the coaching staff can have a beneficial effect on the team. If this unexpected news works out that way, it would be an ideal scenario for Zenit, since there are at most five games left until the end of the season—there should be just enough momentum to carry through. But the arrival of a new coach in the middle of the playoffs is not a common occurrence – in fact, it’s a unique phenomenon. The effect could be the opposite.
Facts
In the Playoffs 2025, the rivals faced off in the Semifinals. The epic series went the full 7 game and ended with a decisive win Zenit at home. The St. Petersburg team advanced, but Loko had worn the opponent down so thoroughly that the St. Petersburg team simply didn’t have enough energy left for the Finals against CSKA.
The teams have faced each other 47 times in total, with Zenit holding a lead – 24-23.
Andrei Vorontsevich has not missed a single game this season. The streak of Zenit’s veteran, which began on March 15, 2024, has reached 148 games.
Vince Hunter played in all 48 games of the season for Loko.
