Krasnoyarsk, Saratov ans St. Petersburg will host 3 regular season games on Wednesday.
Enisey (Krasnoyarsk region) vs Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod)
Time: 19:30 (15:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Arena Sever
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Enisey: After a tough win in Astana, Jovica Arsic team is ahead of Avtodor and MBA-MAI in the standings. In case of beating Pari NN, the team can fight for 7th place. It won’t be easy to defeat Nizhny Novgorod, but the Siberian team will have the support of home fans. In addition, the team has an optimal shape after a week break. Uladzislau Blizniuk will be especially motivated as he previously played in Nizhny.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny put up a fight against Loko, but still couldn’t break the Krasnodar team winning streak. However, Sergey Kozin team can return to the Top 4 in case of win in Krasnoyarsk. And the Volga teams outperforms the future opponent in shooting efficiency and will also be able hope for domination of Aleksandr Chadov and Nemanja Djurisic in the paint.
Avtodor (Saratov) vs Astana (Astana)
Time: 19:00 (18:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saratov, DS Kristall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Avtodor: the Saratov team failed to beat Uralmash. In the game against Astana, Milenko Bogicevic will need to reorganize his approach to defense to avoid similar mistakes against Markell Johnson, who is the League’s best scoring player. Fans are encouraged by Kerem Kanter, who scored 17 points in the last game and was an important offensive option. Kanter and Dmitry Khaldeev confidence in the paint will be important in a win over the Kazakh team, who are tied the League in rebounding this season.
Astana: After the lose to Zenit Fotis Takianos was resigned. This change could make the trip to Saratov even more difficult, but Astana will still have something to play against Avtodor. Daniel Utomi and Markell Johnson duo is slowly becoming one of the best in the League averaging 37 points per game. The Kazakh team internationals are sure to be a problem for the hosts defense as well, so Astana will surely be able to put up a fight against the Volga team.
Zenit (St. Petersburg) vs Samara (Samara Region)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, CSC Arena
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website
Zenit: After a 3-game road trip, Zenit will play at home for the first time in 17 days. The team returns with a 2-game winning streak, which Xavier Pascual team intends to extend against Samara. The St. Petersburg team is ahead of the Volga team in average scoring (89.3 points vs. 81.1). In addition, the coaching staff will be able to use offensive versatility, as Sergey Karasev has returned from injury and Andrey Vorontsevich scored 10+ points in Astana for the first time this season.
Samara: Samara lost to PARMA in a tough end of the road game and dropped to 8th place in the standings. To change the situation, the team need to win in St. Petersburg. Zenit leaders are better than Samara stars in individual stats, but the guests are able to compensate it with team play – Drazen Anzulovic team is ahead in assists per game. In addition, Samara has 4 bigmen who can stop Omari Spellman and Alex Poythress in the paint.
