CSKA will host Zenit in the Game of the Week.
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: TV Start, Match TV, League website
Rivalry
Zenit vs CSKA! The rivalry between the two famous brands reached a new level in the previous season: the teams had an incredible final series, and the winner was determined only in the Game 7. Zenit won the League title for the first time in history and CSKA lost in the playoff series for the first time in history.
The rivalry continued before the start of the season. CSKA and Zenit reached the SuperCup final, where the ending was really dramatic. 9.2 seconds before the end, the St. Petersburg team took a timeout trailing by 2. Thomas Wimbush scored a three-pointer over Livio Jean-Charles and left the Army team only 2 seconds to score. However, the Moscow team could not even make a shot – Trey Tompkins guessed the opponents combination and made a steal.
In the VTB United League the teams have played 32 games since 2014, in 20 the Army team beat Zenit.
The game in St. Petersburg
This season, CSKA and Zenit have already played on November 1: the teams met at Sibur Arena. The Army team took the lead from the first minutes and won the opening quarter – 22:15. Moore three–pointers and Milutinov rebounds allowed the team to get a double-digit lead after the first half – 49:35.
The reigning champion tried to make a comeback in the second half and almost did it! Heurtel scored 8 points in a row and returned the intrigue. 50 seconds before the end, Zenit trailed only by 2 – 78:80.
But at this moment, CSKA players experience affected: Milutinov scored second-chance points – 82:78. In response, Igor Volkhin missed an open three, and then the game moved into tactical fouls. And the Moscow team was able to hold the lead by winning the 7th game in a row.
Since then
In the next 2.5 months, the teams played 14 games each. CSKA won all of them and currently held a record winning streak (21 wins). The Army team confidently took the 1st place and will definitely keep it at least until the end of the first stage of the regular season.
But Zenit did not have such stability. The St. Petersburg team has lost 5 times – this is more than in the entire previous regular season (4). In addition to games with UNICS and CSKA, Xavi Pascual team let Avtodor win in Saratov (79:91) in December, and this week could not hold a 20-point lead against MBA (75:76).
The League’s Best Offense
The Moscow team demonstrate one of the best offense in the League history. CSKA scores 98.3 points and increase this stat every month. The Army team scored 100 points in 12 out of 21 games and also had the best scoring game – 110 points in the Moscow Derby against MBA.
CSKA is the best team in the League in shooting percentage (55.0%), three-pointers (42.6%), two-pointers (63.1%) and free-throws (79.5%).
The League’s Best Defense
Zenit did not play better in offense, but has another advantage – defense. The St. Petersburg team is the only League team that let opponents score less than 70 points per game – 69.7. The closest competitor UNICS allows rivals to score 72 points. CSKA is the 3rd in the season in this with 74.0 points.
Leaders
2 CSKA players are in the best scoring list: Alexey Shved is the 3rd with 16.6 points per game, Nikola Milutinov is the 9th with 15.3 points.
Only Thomas Heurtel can compete with the duo. The French guard scores 13.6 points per game. Trey Tompkins is 2nd with 10.5 points.
Nikola Milutinov leads the list of the best rebounding players (8,9). The Serbian center will compete with Richard Solomon, who has 6.4 rebounds per game.
A separate story will be the guards duel. After all, Alexey Shved and Thomas Heurtel are the leaders in assists. Shved has 8.1 assists per game, the French guard has 8.4 assists.
Family Ties
In different years, Sergey Monia (2002-05), Vitaly Fridzon (2013-18) and Dmitriy Kulagin (2015-17) played for CSKA. There are no ex-Zenit players in the Moscow team now.
Comments
Emil Rajkovic, CSKA Head Coach: «Zenit is a very serious opponent. They have deep roster and good coach, they have continuity from the last season and their injury problems are gone. Now I think they have all players available. I think it will be a very interesting game in a great atmosphere. I hope that we will be happy in the end»
Thomas Wimbush, Zenit forward: «We know that CSKA has lost yet. But any series ends and Zenit is ready to be the first team to beat CSKA»
