On Wednesday, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod will host 2 regular season games.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod ) – Astana (Astana)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorniy
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Having 4 losses in the last 5 games, Nizhny rolled back to the 8th place in the standings. There are 11 games ahead to realise the situation and get into the Top 6. In addition, Zoran Lukic team needs to recover psychologically, because the last 2 games were hard: Pari NN lost more than 40 points to CSKA and allowed PARMA-PARI to make the biggest comeback of the season. Perhaps a new winning streak will begin with Astana, which Nizhny Novgorod beat this season, demonstrating one of the best defense in the season – 80:60.
Astana: The Kazakh team has already updated their squad and two new players have already made their debut in the League against CSKA. However, they could not go to Nizhny Novgorod due to technical reasons — their visas to Russia are not ready yet. Therefore, Astana will play versus Pari NN with almost the same squad as exactly a month ago at home – the exception will be only Deondre Parks, who left the team. It is important for Oleg Kiselev team to improve defense: not to allow opponents to make open shots, fight for rebounds and reduce the number of turnovers.
CSKA (Moscow) – Avtodor (Saratov)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
CSKA: The Army team passed the first round of the first stage undefeated, controlling every game. CSKA is in the lead in most stats and looks like the team has no weaknesses. Of course, it is impossible to underestimate the Saratov team – after the head coach change, Avtodor has significantly improved in the game and have already won 2 games in a row. And yet the Moscow team is the undisputed favorite of the game.
Avtodor: 2 winning games in a row have returned the Volga team to the Top 6 race. Darko Russo continues to change the team’s game and rivalry against CSKA should highlight all the problems that Avtodor have. The Serbian coach is sure that his team should think about defense first of all to check the ability to play defense. In the offense, the Saratov team has enough performers who are able to create moments. For example, in a recent meeting with Enisey, Boatwright–Newman duo scored 47 points. But of course, only dedication and mistakes minimisation will help Avtodor to play against CSKA.
