Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod will host 2 regular season games on Sunday.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – Enisey (Krasnoyarsk)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorny
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: The first game of these teams opened the 2022/23 season and had unpredictable scenario: two overtimes, 50 minutes of basketball and Jermaine Love performance with 26 points and 7 assists. A lot has changed since then, but there is no doubt that this will be a tense game between teams. Nizhny Novgorod has good defense: over the past 3 weeks, only Zenit has managed to score more than 70 points (72), and Zoran Lukic team has 3 wins in 4 games and secured 6th place in the standings.
Enisey: The Krasnoyarsk team continue to be unlucky in the endings! Enisey had an excellent 30 minutes with UNICS, but slowed down in the 4th quarter and lost, unable to guard Daryl Macon. But Enisey is going to fight in Nizhny. Moreover in the last game, Drazen Anzulovich team showed good ball control, allowing only 11 turnovers. Angelo Warner also returned at the right time, because the guard knows how to beat defense and make shots. The great Enisey hopes are connected with rebounding, because the Krasnoyarsk team is noticeably better than NN in rebounds. The Siberian team can get a road win, but it is important for the team to not to lose the ball and not allow Nizhny Novgorod to score easy points.
UNICS (Kazan) – Zenit (Saint Petersburg)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start, Match TV, League website
UNICS: The games between these teams always interesting. UNICS and Zenit are the leaders of the season, who continue to chase CSKA so for the teams loss in this game will be doubly bad. UNICS has not beaten Zenit at home for almost 2 years, but now the situation may change. Yes, the St. Petersburg team has the best defense in the League, but Velimir Perasovic team has enough offensive potential to beat such defense. First of all, Macon-Reynolds duo stands with 35 points per game. But even without them, UNICS has scorers: Nenad Dimitrijevic knows how to make shots, Louis Labeyrie and Anthony Brown are dangerous on the perimeter, and Vince Hunter can score from the paint with high percentage.
Zenit: The St. Petersburg team has good rotation as UNICS. 6 players score 7 or more points and the best scoring Thomas Heurtel got 12.4 points is barely in the Top 20 scorers of the season. Of course, Heurtel is under scope: the French guard turned on the MVP mode in November and still plays in it. Against PARMA-PARI, he updated his career high in the League with 27 points and will certainly have a key impact on Zenit offense in Kazan. At the same time, the St. Petersburg team need to prove the status of the best defensive team of the League. To achieve this, the team needs to tightly guard the opponents’ leaders and not make small mistakes.
