On February 7, Moscow and Tallinn will host 2 regulas season games.
Monday, February 7
CSKA (Russia) — UNICS (Russia)
Time: 19:30 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: Match! TV, League website
Rivalry history: 28 games, CSKA — 22 wins, UNICS – 6 wins
CSKA: For CKSA, February began with 2 Euroleague games, and the game with UNICS will be the 3rd in 6 days. At the same time, CSKA defeated Alba without much difficulty: Nikola Milutinov scored 21 points (a career high in CSKA) and 11 rebounds in this game and became the MVP of the Week in the Euroleague for the 2nd time in 3 rounds. But the game against Efes became one of the most intense this season: the Army team made a comeback, then lost the advantage and eventually lost in overtime only 2 points, even despite Daniel Hackett’s 31 points. Interestingly, both teams got thier games without head coaches, and CSKA also lost Johannes Vogtmann in this game..And Tornike Shengelia and him, could not play in the game with Alba. Whether these forwards will be able to take part in the game with UNICS, as well as Dimitris Itoudis, who is absent due to illness, remains a question.
UNICS: From the point of view of the schedule, the Kazan team are in the same situation as CSKA. In February, they generally performed mirror image in relation to the Army team: the same 2 games in the Euroleague, the same 1 win and 1 loss. And even CSKA and UNICS met with the same team — Alba. However, if CSKA defeated the German team with the huge lead, then UNICS lost with 28 point difference. But in the game against Zalgiris, UNICS rehabilitated. As always, Browns duo were at the forefront, who made a double-double in the game with the Lithuanians — Lorenzo got 10 assists and 19 points, and John scored 15 points, made 11 rebounds and 5 steals. The short rotation of the team forced UNICS to become more active in the transfer market, and sniper John Holland, well-known to Kazan fans, who reached the EuroCup finals with the team last season, returns to UNICS.
What to follow: less than 10 days ago, UNICS and CSKA met in the Euroleague, and in this game CSKA got the win. Fantastic efficiency by Alexey Shved (27 points), who could not be stopped even by John Brown III. So the new duel is important for UNICS not only as an opportunity to break away from the nearest competitor in the battle for the 1st place, but also as a revenge for the last loss.
Kalev (Estonia) — Zenit (Russia)
Time: 20:00 (21:00 Moscow time)
Location: Estonia, Tallinn, Kalevi Spordihall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Rivalry history: 15 games, Zenit — 12 wins, Kalev – 3 wins
Kalev: the Tallinn team continue to battle for getting into the Top-8. However, Roberts Stelmachers’ team has not really effective offense (Kalev is the last in the League). This was especially evident in the last game against Lokomotiv Kuban, in which the Estonian team led for 3 quarters, but in the last 10 minutes unexpectedly crashed, losing 23 points in the last quarter. However, there were some positive moments for the Tallinn team in this game as well: rookie Isaiah Cousins played his debut game in the United League. In 23 minutes, he scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Zenit: Another Russian Euroleague team spent the beginning of February exactly the same as CSKA and UNICS — played 2 games, defeated Baskonia, but lost to Real Madrid. But if the St. Petersburg team pulled out the game with Baskonia with Billy Baron and Jordan Loyd performance, who scored 47 points for two, then in the game with Real Madrid, Zenit was clearly not a favourite. Xavi Pascual didn’t have all his best players, and if the club has already adapted to Shabazz Napier absence, then without Conner Frankamp and two key frontcourt players (Arturas Gudaitis and Mateusz Ponitka), Zenit has a very difficult time.
Who to follow: young guard Tyson Carter has already made his debut for Zenit in the Euroleague, but so far he is just starting to get used to the team, spending only a few minutes on the floor. Perhaps the game with Kalev that can become the key one for Zenit newcomer.
