Moscow will host the Game of the Week between CSKA and UNICS on Saturday.
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Time: March 1, 2025, 13:30
Broadcast: Match TV, League website
Rivalry
CSKA and UNICS are the only teams that have played in the League since the very first season. Not surprisingly, the rivalry history between the clubs is incredibly rich. For the first time, the principled rivals played in the 2009-10 final, where the Moscow team won their first title (66:55). But today we’ll focus on the most recent rivalrs between the two top teams.
In 2024, CSKA and UNICS played 11 games. In the 2023/24 season, the Moscow team lost all 3 games in the regular season, but confidently won the Finals (4-1). CSKA activated its killer instinct at the SuperCup (87-72) and secured the first trophy of the new season. CSKA was also stronger in the season-opener, and then won the November game in Kazan – 80:73 and 7-4 at the end of the 2024.
The head-to-head score in the League is 32-12, CSKA leads.
Motivation
CSKA (27-5), Zenit (27-5) and UNICS (27-6) are battling for first place in the regular season. The Moscow team leads, but in case of loss will pass the Kazan team ahead. The St. Petersburg team will host Astana this week and have an excellent chance. The Moscow team has an extremely unpleasant trend: in the last 4 games against Top 4, the team has 4 losses.
UNICS couldn’t beat with the direct rivals (0-5) at the start of the season, but after December’s win over Zenit, the team picked up momentum and put together a 16-game winning streak that broke the trend only just before the All-Star break in St. Petersburg. The Kazan team will try to get back on the winning track.
Injuries
UNICS has struggled in recent games, and won’t be able to have a full roster for the important game at Megasport, even with the All-Star break. Important rotation players Mikhail Belenitskii, Louis Labeyrie and Tony Taylor will return to the Kazan team roster only in March.
Opinion
According to MBA-MAI leader Andrei Zubkov, UNICS looks the most preferable of the Top 4 clubs so far.
– In my opinion, UNICS looks the strongest. No matter what opponent the team will play against, whether they win by 50 or lose by 5, UNICS press for all 40 minutes. They fight as one fist, one for all and all for one.
It all comes from training. As they train, so they play. We often give the example of Marcos Knight to our players. A man of his age, I don’t want to call him a veteran, he continues to press all over the court with crazy passion. Plus I’m very impressed with his defensive play.
Let’s see how the break affects Kazan. Will they continue to play on such a high? But so far their play seems to be the most stable.
Promo
CSKA mascot revealed an unusual side and invited the fans to the Game of the Week.
Duel
Melo Trimble vs. Marcos Knight.
The two were teammates for one night at the All-Star Game on February 16, but will go up against each other on Saturday once again. Trimble and Knight are key offensive performers for CSKA and UNICS. Both are in the League’s Top 10 in average scoring: 14.6 points and 10th place by Melo, 16.7 points and third place by Marcos.
Numbers
CSKA has a four-game winning streak against UNICS.
CSKA is the highest scoring team of the season (91.4 points per game), the leader in 3-point percentage (41.4%) and field-goal percentage (50.1%), as well as in assists per game (20.9).
UNICS loses the ball the least often in the League (11.4 per game).
