5 regular season games will be played on Saturday and Sunday,
February 29, Saturday
Nizhny Novgorod – Lokomotiv-Kuban
Time: 16:00 (16:00 MSK)
Venue: CEC Nagorny, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet line: Nizhny Novgorod win — 2,75, Lokomotiv-Kuban win — 1,45
Even though Nizhny Novgorod are only 1 win away from the playoffzone, the situation is tough for them. First of all, it’s the schedule: they’ll face Loko, UNICS and Zenit. However, there’s something positive about it as all these will be a home-game streak. Furthermore, Zoran Lukic’s side has already proved to be a challenging opponent for the contenders: Zenit downed in St. Petersburg, while UNICS and Lokomotiv had to struggle to get a win on the last seconds. Plus, Nizhny used this pause to strengthen the roster: veteran Sergey Toropov (already played in 2017-2019) came back.
Lokomotiv-Kuban are still flawless under Evgeny Pashutin. They must plan to keep it going and get at least 10-games winning streak. Loko’s management extended the coach’s contract for 3 years which confirms the trust. Game with Nizhny is important itself, plus it’s going to be a rehearsal for a big time standoff – next round, Loko will meet CSKA, their main competitor for the second place. This season, coach Pashutin has already led Loko against Nizhny. The team from Volga fought will all their hearts, and Kuban nearly lost that one.
Time: 17:00 (16:00 MSK)
Venue: Crystal SP, Saratov, Russia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: Avtodor win — 1,52, Tsmoki-Minsk — 2,53
Avtodor are suffering a 7-games losing streak. Donaldas Kairys made his debut as Avtodor head coach last round, but it didn’t help on the spot. Saratov were beaten by Zielona Gora and levelled with Tsmoki in number of victories. Therefore, Saturday game will be a faceoff of two last teams. Avtodor are one position above due to lesser number of games played, but the risk is to get a straight last place in case of loss. Head coach is not their only signing: Michael Umeh left the team, but Actodor signed ex-Crvena Zvezda’s center Mouhammad Faye from Senegal. The hope is to strengthen team’s frontcourt.
Tsmoki-Minsk are ranked 13th in the League, but they can hardly be called outsiders of this match. Tsmoki have a 2-3 record of the last 5 games, fought UNICS and Loko. Plus, they’ve beaten Avtodor recently demonstrating perfect defense that allowed only 80 points. Minsk’s bench dominated and ouplayed Avtodor’s 52:2. Technically, the Dragons can still fight for the playoffs, so this game is a turning point for Rostislav Vergun’s guys.
Time: 18:00 (18:00 MSK)
Venue: Basket hall, Kazan, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet line: UNICS win — 1,15, Kalev win — 5,50
UNICS’ moment of truth. Kazan desperately needs to beat Kalev in order to avoid catastrophic distance to Loko and CSKA. They’ll meet the Army club, so Kazan have their chance to fight for the 2-3 places of the regular season. But downing lower teams is a must. However, Kalev can be a tough cookie like they were in the first round when UNICS unexpectedly lost with a 23-point difference.
Kalev left UNICS with no chance in their first game this season. The Estonians showed rock-solid defense as only three Kazan players scored more than 10 points, and UNICS’ top scorer Errick McCollum probably played his worst game of the season with 1 of 10 field goals. Nonetheless, UNICS have paced up since then, while Kalev lack stability. Tallinn’s main goal is more of a playoff zone than rivalry with UNICS. Kalev’s schedule will bring them games with all major competitiors (excluding Enisey), so every game is crucial.
March 1, Sunday
Time: 18:00 (14:00 MSK)
Venue: Arena.Sever, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: Enisey win — 1,50, Astana win — 2,55
Enisey are in the middle of a paradox that occured due to density of the rankings. Enisey are ranked 5th with a negative W-L record (as well as other teams below 4th place). However, it’s quite a challenge to maintain this position. During a break, team’s best offensive player Davion Berry left and signed with Villeurbanne. His record was 18.1 PPG being in top 4 scorers of the League. His contribution made Enisey a no.3 scoring team (87.1 points per game), and now Drazen Anzulovic will have to reshape all the offense of the team that used to be Berry-driven.
Astana have their own roster challenges. Like Enisey, the lost 4 of the last 5, but this game in particular has something to upset Emil Rajkovikj. They play on the road. And this season, Astana along with Avtodor are League’s worst away teams. Kazakh team won only 1 of 8 away games, while Enisey dominates at home: 5W-3L. Their first game this season showed a thriller – shootout of Malcolm Hill and Davion Berry. Astana’s leader won that one (29:22) to get a tough win. This time it’s even easier for Hill as Berry will not oppose him.
Time: 17:30 (15:30 MSK)
Venue: UDS Molot, Perm, Russia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: PARMA win — 1,40, Zielona Gora — 3,00
PARMA were reborn after the New Year to hit a 4-games winning streak. They were stopped only by Zenit (but the victory was very close, only last-second mistake took it away). This streak brought them to the playoff zone, but still Perm must win the next three games against direct competitors. Later, they’ll have a barrier line of UNICS, Khimki and Loko, and finish the regular season in Nur-Sultan which is not easy for anybody. Meeting Zielona Gora (the first competitor), PARMA will have to use all the reserve, above all Maxim Grigoryev who is in perfect shape at the moment. PARMA’s guard recovered from multiple injuries and made his debut in Russia national.
Zielona Gora are a tough cookie for PARMA which is still not bitted. Zielona Gora won all their three games, and the last one was gigantic – 106:88. By the way, it was a top scoring night for Zan Tabak’s team this season. Still, Zielona Gora should not hope for an easy game as PARMA have improved their defense – only Khimki scored 100+ since then. Another advantage of Gora is their away games stat (which is better than at home) with 4-4 record.
