CSKA will host Kalev, Astana meet Khimki and PARMA face Zenit.
February 13, Thursday
Time: 19:30 (19:30 MSK)
Venue: USH CSKA, Moscow, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Arena
Fonbet line: CSKA win — 1,01, Kalev win — 16,00
CSKA’s trip to Nur-Sultan was a success as CSKA beat one of the best ‘home’ teams by 23 points. Even though the Army club have little time to rest and recover, they are still favored to win this one. The last time these two met – happened this season – CSKA ensured the victory in the first quarter and total margin was +41. This was CSKA’s 13th consecutive win in their faceoff.
Kalev had been a top 5 team before the last round. At the same time the standings are so tight that the Estonians had negative record 7-8 and even loss dropped them down only to 7th place. However, 2 losses in a row would make things really complicated for Kalev. What’s worth mentioning about this game is that League’s best defense (77.2 points allowed per game by CSKA) will face League’s worst offense (77.9 PPG by Kalev).
February 14, Friday
Time: 19:30 (16:30 MSK)
Venue: Jekpe-Jek, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Broadcast: Match! Arena
Fonbet line: Astana win — 4,00, Khimki win — 1,25
Astana’s loss from CSKA was the 2nd in a row after -19 margin with Tsmoki. Now, their challenge is even bigger. Astana will face League’s leaders in front of the home crowd. Their first encounter this season was a huge success for Khimki with Astana scoring 56 points only. Even though, Kazakh team are underdogs in this one, they have their trump cards. First of all, it’s Dusan Ristic who made 18 rebounds in the first game this season (outplaying Khimki’s Jeremy Evans and Anthony Gill). This time, Devin Booker will bear the burden of this rivalry.
Khimki’s Booker, however became one of the key figures of that night: 15 points and 11 rebounds. Therefore, Rimas Kurtinaitis has a man to fight the Serbian giant. And still, Khimki’s rotation problem remains. They had 8 men to face Nizhny, plus Zaitsev and Bertans spent 20+ minutes on the floor. This game was not high-scoring, but the W was up for grabs until the very last moment. What was special about that game is that Alexey Shved and Devin Booker divided their zones of influence: Booker dominated the paint sinking 9 of 10 while Shved attacked from the perimiteter (5 of 8 three-pointers). Astana at home are capable of creating a fair competition here. So, Khimki can benefit the All-Star break in the regular season.
Time: 19:30 (17:30 MSK)
Venue: UDS Molot, Perm, Russia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: PARMA win — 2,60, Zenit win — 1,50
PARMA who’ve been outsiders for a long time, managed to pace up last weeks with 4 consecutive wins. With this streak, Kazys Maskvytis’ side not only enetered the playoff zone, but competes Enisey for the 5th place. And they have the time to secure good result: after Zenit they face direct competitors such as Zielona Gora, Tsmoki and Kalev. Later, however, Perm will go through a triple challenge of Khimki, Lokomotiv and UNICS. Therefore, PARMA need to win here and now. Luckily, now they already know how to beat Zenit. Last December, they got their first win over St. Petersburg in 7 games.
Zenit’s situation is getting worse and worse. It’s just the opposite of PARMA’s story: 4-games streak, but these are losses. Considering losses in Euroleague, parting ways with Joan Plaza made sense. Perhaps, no one needs the All-Star break like Zenit. In all last defeats (CSKA excluded), St. Petersburg had no fuel left in the final quarter. This was especially noticeable in UNICS game where Zenit didn’t manage to score a single point within last 4 minutes. Meanwhile, PARMA ranked 3rd in scoring (87.1 points per game) is able to sort things out even without clutch.
