MBA and CSKA will play in the Moscow Derby.
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Moscow, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, Match! Igra, League website
Rivalry
This game will be the second official in the history of these teams. The only League game was in October. Moscow teams led the standings at that time, but CSKA was much stronger. The Army team won every quarter and set a season high in points scored in 1 game – 110:78.
That loss was the first for MBA in the VTB United League.
The Moscow Derby path
Since the October, both Moscow teams have played 13 games. MBA has 9 wins and 4 losses. At the same time, Vasily Karasev team has never lost in 2 games in a row.
With MBA stability, the team is on the 4th place in the standings and even caught up with Zenit in wins. Moreover, MBA clinched to the United League playoffs 2 months after the start of their debut.
But CSKA results are even more impressive. The Army team has already broken all team records for winning streak at the start of the season, winning 17 games in a row. CSKA remains the only team in the League that did not lose in the 2022/23 season. Moreover, only in 3 games the score difference was less than 10 points – on the road versus Zenit (85:80), against PARMA-PARI (83:74) and UNICS (95:93). CSKA was closer to lose in Kazan, but managed to win in overtime.
Injuries
Less than a week after the win against MBA, CSKA went to Saratov, where the team beat Avtodor – 102:75. However, in that game, Semen Antonov suffered an achilles injury and is currently recovering from surgery.
In addition, Nikola Milutinov did not play for almost 20 days – he missed games with MINSK, Samara and Loko. Alexey Shved also missed games against MINSK and Loko.
MBA also has a serious loss – Aleksandr Khomenko. At the end of November, the guard suffered a knee injury and had surgery already. Fortunately, another guard Makar Konovalov returned in December: in Sunday’s game in Minsk, he came off the bench and scored 11 points, 5 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 block in 18 minutes.
Return
In the summer, Mark Tikhonenko moved from Astana to MBA. But even before the start of the season, the Russian forward suffered a back injury and still has not made his debut in the season for his new team. It is quite possible that Tikhonenko first game will be this Friday – the Moscow team has included the forward in the roster for the season.
Mark scored 7.8 points and 3.2 rebounds as Astana player last season.
Social Media Talks
A week ago, in the Above the Rim TV show, MBA forward Andrey Lopatin made it clear that any winning streak ends sooner or later – and it doesn’t matter what level this team is.
On Wednesday – Alexey Shved replied his ex-teammate:
Numbers and leaders
CSKA is the best team in the League in points (97.4), shot percentage from the game (54.6%), assists (25.1) and rebounds (38.9). Steals is not a strong side of the team – 7.1 and only 9th place in the League.
And the leader of the season in interceptions is MBA with 8.9 per game. In addition, the League newcomer is second in the three-point shots percentage (40.6%).
As for individual stats, Alexey Shved and Nikola Milutinov shines. The Russian guard is fourth among the best scorers of the season with 17.1 points per game and second with 7.4 assists. The Serbian center is second in rebounds (9.0) and leads the league in shots percentage
MBA did not have a player who stands out. The best scoring player of the team is Andrey Lopatin – scores less than 12 points (11.8), but at the same time 8 players have an average of 7 or more points.
