CSKA will host UNICS in the Game on the Week on Sunday.
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Time: 4 February 2024, 14:00 (Moscow time)
Broadcast: TV Start, Match TV, League website
The season leaders CSKA and UNICS will face in Moscow!
Rivalry history
UNICS and CSKA have the longest history in the United League. The teams first played in the 2009-10 season Finals, where the Moscow team won the first title (66:55).
By the way, CSKA and UNICS played one of the most exciting regular-season games in League history. In the 2021/22 season, before the All-Star Game in Moscow, the teams needed 2 overtimes to dicide the winner, and the Kazan team guard O.J Mayo scored an incredible game-winner.
The teams had 34 games in the United League, the Army team has 26 wins. CSKA had the win in Kazan this season. Emil Rajkovic team took an 11-point lead by halftime and increased it to 18 points in the second half.
UNICS attempted a comeback with a 9:2 run in the final quarter, but the Kazan team didn’t have enough energy. The Army team got win and moved up to first place in the standings – 79:66. Samson Ruzhentsev made 8 rebounds and set his new career-high in the League.
Season progress
A round before the end of the first stage of the regular season, CSKA is a sole leader with 22 wins in 25 games. The Army team has made an excellent bid to win the regular season and gain home court advantage in each Playoffs rounds.
CSKA had only 1 loss in 6 games in January (85:89 agaisnt Loko in Krasnodar) and has pulled even further away from the rivals, with 3 wins separating the team from them and only 10 games to play in the second stage.
However, UNICS has not given up hope of catching up the opponents. After 2 losses earlier this year to Enisey (80:94) and PARMA (70:72), the reigning champion has picked up momentum and defeaeted 3 teams including Zenit, one of its main rivals.
For both teams, this game in Moscow will be extremely important. If CSKA wins, it will increase its chances of taking first place in the regular season, creating even more distance from its rivals. UNICS can’t lose, either: Loko and Zenit are really close, but the coaching staff isn’t thinking about how to stay at the second place, but how to move up to the first.
Numbers
CSKA and UNICS are the 2 best teams in the League in scoring. The Army team averages 88.5 points, while the Kazan team averages 85.4.
CSKA is also the best in the League in shooting from the game (51.3%), three-pointers (39.6%) and mid-range (58.2%) shots. Emil Rajkovic team also has the most assists, averaging 20.7.
UNICS’ main advantage is ball control. The Kazan team has only 10.4 turnovers, the second-lowest in the League, only Enisey (9.8 turnovers) is ahead. In addition, UNICS averages 7.8 steals per game.
Nenad Dimitrijevic stands out for UNICS, as the guard is among the League’s Top-10 in points, assists and steals. Ismael Bako is 7th in theLeague in rebounding (6.4).
Ivan Ukhov should be mentioned as he is the 1st in three-point shooting with 52.4%. UNICS’ best is Louis Labeyrie with 48.9%.
Face-to-face
Casper Ware vs Nenad Dimitrijevic.
Both teams have enough strong and experienced players. Still, it will be most interesting to watch the duel between the guards, especially with the way they have played in recent games.
The Army team guard was overshadowed in the first few months of the season and had only 3 20+ points game before 2024. But in January, Casper put up a powerful streak: 22 points against Runa, 23 against Uralmash and 30 against Nizhny. And in the game against Nizhny, Ware made an important game-saving three-pointer.
Dimitrijevic is the recognised UNICS leaders. Neno is the best on the Kazan team in points (17.1), assists (6.3) and steals (1.5). And in a recent game against Avtodor, the guard set a career-high in the United League with 35 points. By the way, in the same game Dimitrijevic set a season-high 48 eff. points.
Signing
CSKA started the week with some high-profile transfer news: Will Barton, a 33-year-old guard who has played in the NBA for Portland, Denver, Washington and Toronto since 2012, is moving to Moscow. Barton has played 708 games in the regular season and playoffs, and in 2016 he participated in the All-Star Game Slam Dunk Contest.
However, his appearance in the game against UNICS is questionable – the guard is currently not included in CSKA roster for United League games.
