Moscow will host the regular season game on Monday.
MBA (Moscow) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 19:30 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Basket Hall Moscow
Broadcast: TV Start, Match TV, League website
MBA: The game in Krasnodar was the first for the newcomer in the United League. And MBA immediately created a sensation by beating last year’s semi-finalist. Now the Moscow team wins are no longer surprising as during the season the League newcomer showed that can consistently beat rivals for a playoffs place. At the same time, it will be extremely difficult to repeat the success against Loko and all because of the injuries of Aleksandr Khomenko and Makar Konovalov. While the club’s office is monitoring the market, the coaching staff is believing in young Egor Pokinko: the 20-year-old guard, the MVP of November in the VTB Youth League, played 17 minutes each with Avtodor and Astana. Egor is progressing, but so far he cannot fully replace teammates so MBA will surely focus on defense again. In the last 3 games, the team let opponents score 63.7 points.
Lokomotiv Kuban: Loko recognise that this trip to Moscow is a great chance to surpass the newcomers. MBA is 4th with 10 wins and 5 losses, Loko is 5th (9-6). The Krasnodar team didn’t have a good start, but gradually Aleksander Sekulic adjusted the team and Loko literally rushed fro the top: since the end of October, the team has won 8 out of 10 games, losing only to UNICS and Zenit. Andrey Martiuk has a great time and has already been in the Team of the Round for 6 times this season. Worth pointing out another Loko bigman: Kirill Elatontsev is increasingly gaining the trust of the coaching staff and is already among the Top-5 in offensive rebounds in the team. Loko is still waiting for the its newcomers Josh Gray and Chris Horton, but even without them the Krasnodar team has excellent chances for a rematch against MBA.
