Minsk will host the regular season game on Sunday.
MINSK (Minsk) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 15:00 (15:00 Moscow time)
Location: Belarus, Minsk, Minsk-Arena
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
MINSK: For the first 9 games, Minsk has not won once. Changes are overdue and a week ago the Belarusian team introduced two newcomers – Ognjen Pantovic and Supreme Hanna. For the Serbian forward, this will be the first season in his career, but the American guard has been playing at the pro level for the fifth year, having also been in the Russian SuperLeague. A small pause in the schedule – the Minsk team had the last game on November 11, this will certainly benefit the team, because Pantovic and Hannah will have time to get connections in the team. Loko will be the first to check MINSK newcomers. If the Belarusian team plans to get into the playoffs at the end of the regular season, then it is necessary to win now – regardless of the status and of the opponent.
Lokomotiv Kuban: On Wednesday, the Krasnodar team almost came back trailing by 24 points to Zenit, but in the end they took a home loss and ended their 3 games winning streak. On Sunday, Loko will have a chance to start a new one, because the Krasnodar team has stats and history: the last time MINSK (then Tsmoki) beat Loko more than 4 years ago. Loko has a huge advantage in points per game scored (76.8 vs. 58.1) and rebounds (37.4 vs. 32.3), and Lokomotiv need to use this to get the win. Separately, it is worth keeping an eye on Jaylen Barford: the guard lost the 1st place in best scorers of the season list, but he may return if he will have a bright performance in the capital of Belarus.
