Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan will host 2 regular season games on Thursday.
UNICS (Kazan) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket-Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, League website
UNICS: The Kazan team started the year not so confidently. UNICS haven’t lost for 2 months and 9-game winning streak. But 5 of these last 9 wins have difference of 10 or less points. In Perm, UNICS won only in overtime (89:82), against Zenit (95:94), Macon scored both free-throws in the last seconds and he also saved the Kazan team from defeat in the Volga Derby versus Pari NN (86:85). Velimir Perasovic missed the previous UNICS game on Monday, Jalen Reynolds recovers from the injury. But UNICS cannot lose – in such case, it will be impossible to catch up with CSKA. The Kazan team main task is to stop Loko leaders Jaylen Barford and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell. UNICS would extend the winning streak if the opponents leaders will stop scoring and the game pace will be optimal
Lokomotiv Kuban: The Krasnodar team started the second stage of the regular season with the first win in St. Petersburg in 3 years. Loko is close to Pari NN and MBA, and if the team will win in Kazan (and Nizhny will lose to CSKA) could be at the 4th place. The Krasondar team is back with usual fast basketball with high productivity – the team demonstrated it against Zenit, who has one of the strongest League defense, and scored 92 points. In the previous game in Kazan, Loko let the opponents make 19 turnovers and lost only in the last minutes. Since that time, Loko started to play in the clutch and goes to Kazan only to win.
Game of the Week. UNICS vs Lokomotiv Kuban.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – CSKA (Moscow)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, League website
UNICS: The Kazan team started the 2023 not so confident. UNICS has not lost for 2 months and has a 9-game winning streak. But 5 of the last 9 wins were achieved with a difference of 10 or less points, in Perm, UNICS won only in overtime (89:82), against Zenit (95:94), Macon made free-throws in the last seconds and he also saved the Kazan team from defeat in the Volga Derby versus Pari NN (86:85) on Monday. Head coach Velimir Perasovic missed the last game due to illness, one of the leaders Jalen Reynolds is recovering from injury. But it is impossible to lose to UNICS, because in this case it will be almost impossible to get CSKA. The main task of the Kazan team is to stop the duo of the Barford –Akoon-Purcell duo. UNICS will be able to continue its winning streak with optimal game pace.
Lokomotiv Kuban: The Krasnodar team started the second stage of the regular season with the first win in 3 years in St. Petersburg. Loko has already caught up with its closest competitors MBA and Pari NN in the standings, and in case of win in Kazan (and Nizhny Novgorod lose to CSKA), it can even reach a clean 4th place. Loko finally returned to their trademark fast basketball with high performance – with the same Zenit demonstrating the best defense in the League, Loko scored 92 points. In the previous game in Kazan, the Krasnodar team forced UNICS to commit 19 turnovers and lost only in the last minute. Since then, Loko has learned to play in the clutch and goes to Kazan only to win.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – CSKA (Moscow)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorniy
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: In 2023, Nizhny Novgorod has a good shape. This could be seen in the recent game in Kazan, where Zoran Lukic team led for a long time and lost only in the last seconds. Now Pari NN plays with more dangerous opponent – CSKA, which goes undefeated. The Volga team can play with every team equally, but to win the Army team, you need to play your best game of the season. Therefore, it is extremely important for Pari NN to forget the game Kazan and be ready to play against CSKA.
CSKA: Unlike the closest competitors UNICS and Zenit, the Army team are going through the season quite steadily. The last win with a difference of less than 15 points took place in mid-December, and since then CSKA has only been improving. Emil Rajkovic team has won 23 games in a row. However, it is dangerous to relax in Nizhny Novgorod – the Volga team can punish for lunderestimation. And yet CSKA is the clear favorite. Alexey Shved (recently became the January MVP) and Nikola Milutinov will probably be in the spotlight again, but, of course, it’s worth keeping an eye on Anton Astapkovich. The forward, who played for Pari NN for 4 years, returned to the city for the first time after moving to CSKA and had a good performance: 19 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. No one will be surprised if Astapkovich again becomes one of the productive in the match against his former team.
