Astana and Yekaterinburg will host regular season games on Thursday.
Astana (Astana) vs Runa (Moscow)
Time: 20:00 (17:00 Moscow time)
Place: Kazakhstan, Astana, Velotrek Saryarka
Broadcast: Start, VTB United League website
Astana: Astana home winning streak continued against Samara – the Kazakh team managed to completely shut down the Volga team shooters, and Carvel Anderson scored 28 points for the second game in a row. In general, Astana has lost only once at home so far – in its very first game of the season against Zenit. Oleg Kiselev team also plays at home in the next round, but Astana will face CSKA. It won’t be easy to beat the Army team even in Saryarka, so it’s very important for Astana to take advantage in this round, especially since Runa is their closest rivlry. A win will help Astana overtake the Moscow team to get into the Top 8.
Runa: After a brilliant start, Vikings slowed down, having suffered 4 straight losses. However, Erturul Erdogan’s team had to face CSKA, Loko, Zenit and the recently unbeaten Enisey. In the game with Zenit, the newcomer clearly lacked experience – in the final quarter, Runa couldn’t hold the St. Petersburg team. But Danila Pokhodiaev drew attention. Pokhodiaev responded with 22 points. At the same time, the forward made 6 of 8 three-pointers – more than the rest of the team combined.
Uralmash (Yekaterinburg) vs Zenit (St. Petersburg)
Time: 19:30 (17:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Yekaterinburg, DIVS.
Broadcast: Match! Igra, Start Triumph, League website
Uralmash: The Yekaterinburg team has greatly improved their standings with 2 straight wins. In the game with Enisey, the team even managed to do something that few have been able to do lately – hold off Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who scored only 16 points (5 of 17 from the game). At the same time, the League newcomer won both games without their leader Octavius Ellis, who was injured in the first quarter of the game against MBA. In the absence of the star center, other players are showing themselves: for example, Javonte Douglas made his first double-double of the season against Enisey, and Kirill Pisklov set a career-high 13 points. Uralmash already has a win over Zenit, which happened in the debut United League game. By the way, Ellis didn’t play in that game either, and Douglas (22 points and 9 rebounds) was the key player.
Zenit: The St. Petersburg team continues its winning streak despite roster problems. After the win against Runa, Javier Pascual said he didn’t know when all 5 injured players would be back. In any case, the deep roster allows Zenit to win due to experience so far. The game against Runa was one of the best for the St. Petersburg team offense: Zenit scored more than 90 for the first time this season and was 1 point away from 100. Trent Frazier looks so confident in the starting lineup (24 points and 9 assists against Runa) that after the return of Thomas Heurtel, Zenit coaching staff will have to figure out how to distribute playing time among the star guards.
