5 regular season games will be played from Saturday through Monday
Saturday, January 4
Time: 18:00 (18:00 MSK)
Venue: Basket hall, Kazan, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet line: UNICS win — 1,15, Avtodor win — 5,50
UNICS: The first game of 2020 will feature two ambitious teams who are currently ranked below their goals. UNICS’ December was ambiguous. After a win over reigning champs they had a struggle against Zielona Gora. Moreover, Enisey took their fourth place in standings as UNICS couldn’t deny Davion Berry’s game-winner. All these led to roster rotation as the management decided to part ways with Vangelis Mantzaris and sign Jordan Theodore of Besiktas. In this season of Turkish league he had an average of 15.1 points and 6.8 assists.
Avtodor seem to finally find their rhythm as they’ve downed Nizhny Novgorod and Lokomotiv-Kuban (first home loss for Kuban this season). But later they were beaten by Zenit allowing 109 and scoring only 66. Both were their worst stats this season. After this loss, Saratov dropped below playoff zone and are not favored to overplay UNICS. Avtodor won only 1 of their 4 away games, plus personal faceoff history doesn’t favor Predrag Krunic team: 1-9, and the only win happened four years ago.
Sunday, January 5
Time: 19:30 (16:30 MSK)
Venue: Saryarka Velodrome, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: Astana win — 1,55, Enisey win — 2,45
Astana finally stopped their losing streak. After 4 straight losses, they finally downed Zielona Gora in a dramatic ending. Despite this win Astana still can’t reach the playoff zone. Therefore, they’re focused on new signings. James Florence has already made a heroic debut, and later Astana announced Stephen Holt’s comeback. It’s curious that Holt showed his best perfrormance last season against Enisey: 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. That victory allowed Astana to take the fifth place.
Enisey proved their success this season is not a coincidence with a win over UNICS. However, Astana shall not be easy one. Kazakhstan is a typical home team with the only home loss this season. Enisey’s performance on the road is not that stable: it’s only 2-3. Enisey can neutralize scoring capacity of Malcolm Hill by Davion Berry’s performance (ranked 4th and 3rd in top scorers’ rating), but stopping Dusan Ristic will be a tough challenge for Enisey coaching staff. Enisey’s top rebounder Dustin Hogue makes only 6.6 per game while Astana’s big man has 11.1.
Time: 17:00 (18:00 MSK)
Venue: Kalevi Spordihall, Tallinn, Estonia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: Kalev win — 1,50, Zielona Gora win — 2,60
Kalev finished 2019 meeting two League leaders: Khimki and CSKA. These games were a disaster for Kalev as they lost both (including -41 from Khimki). As a result, Kalev are ranked 8th, but everything can change already after this game. There is only one victory between the Estonians and Zielona Gora. Another trait to describe the game is that two least scoring teams meet: 81.4 points by Zielona Gora and 76.9 by Kalev. This means that errors can be pricey in this game.
Zielona Gora may really blame their bad luck. They lost two last games on the last seconds. The only win in December (over Tsmoki) was in a clutch as well as Zielona Gora won in the OT after trailing by 13. Therefore, one can expect this game with equal opponent to be full of struggle and a clutch ending. The Polish team still hasn’t beaten Tallinn as they lost both last season, so there is another point to keep them motivated.
Monday, January 6
Time: 15:00 (15:00 MSK)
Venue: Arena Mytishchi, Mytishchi, Russia
Broadcast: Match TV
Fonbet line: Khimki win — 2,45, CSKA win — 1,55
Khimki: regular season leaders will meet in a game of the week. Both teams lead the most statistic ratings: scoring, efficiency, 3-pointers %, defensive plays etc. However, as CSKA lost three games in the beginning of the season, Khimki had been staying flawless until they met Loko last week. This year, they both have already played a Euroleague game and both lost. Khimki’s loss from Efes was more sensitive, but Rimas Kurtinatis’ side went to Turkey without Alexey Shved who has a flu, and it’s still a question if he can face CSKA. Without League’s top scorer Khimki managed to score only 82
CSKA also lost on Friday’s Euroleague night. Panathinaikos got it to the OT and took over the game. Despite the OT, CSKA have a more favorable position as they’ve played a home game while Khimki spent time on a trip to Turkey. Main contenders have already met this season in Euroleague where the Red-blues were confident beating Khimki 99:86. Mike James with 28 points was the MVP. His rival Alexey Shved had 25 points. Therefore, if Khimki leaader gets on court on Monday, the fans will see amazing shootout.
Time: 17:00 (17:00 MSK)
Venue: Falcon Club, Minsk, Belarus
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet lin: Tsmoki-Minsk win — 3,20, Zenit win — 1,35
Tsmoki-Minsk finally found their rhythm and look different from the beginning of the season. They won two of the last 4, were beaten by Zielona Gora only in the OT and finished 2019 with probaly their best game: fought CSKA till the end, and managed to score 91 points against one of the best defensive systems of Europe. This game will feature two “road” teams: Tsmoki’s both wins were away from home while Zenit have 4 of 6 (League’s second result)
Zenit finished 2019 with a big win over Avtodor (team’s season best in scoring). But after that Zenit were downed in Euroleague: Joan Plaza’s side managed to score only 58 against Crvena Zvezda (only 18 in the second half), and only 72 against Milan. Obviously, the Dragons’ defense can’t be compared to the one of the Serbians or Italians, but they are not bad in VTB League with 87.5 points allowed per game. Enisey ranked 4th, have an average of 89.4. It can be a challenge to break Minsk’s defense.
