4 regular season games will be played on Sunday.
Sunday, November 1
Time: 13:00 (13:00 MSK)
Venue: Basket hall, Krasnodar, Russia
Broadcast: Match TV
Fonbet line: Lokomotiv-Kuban win — 1,34, UNICS win — 3,25
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Two teams of top four will clash in the game of the week: UNICS ranked 2nd and Loko 4th. Even though Kuban will step on court being behin in the table, they can be called front-runners of the game. Lokomotiv won three last United League games which were followed by a huge victory over Monaco in Eurocup. Alan Williams, already claimed new team leader, was one of the stars again. This time, the center leads rankings in points, rebounds and efficiency. Williams hit another double-double (13+13) against French team.
UNICS had a bad round in Europe. UNICS hosted Joventud and lost in the OT after a very intense game. And that’s the word to describe games between Loko and UNICS. Kuban leads overall rivalry (14:11) averaging 74.2 points per game, while Kazan responds with 73.4. Nate Wolters is getting used to new atmosphere. His 15 points against Joventud is his best result in green jersey.
Time: 14:00 (14:00 MSK)
Venue: USH CSKA, Moscow, Russia
Broadcast: Match!Strana
Fonbet line: CSKA “-25.5” leg-up — 1,90, Enisey “+25,5” leg-up — 1,90
CSKA made right conclusions of sensational loss from PARMA. Their next opponents (Loko and Avtodor) were destroyed. Playing Saratov, the Army club literally had a canonade of three-pointers with season best of 17 three-pointers in a game. In the same match, young Andrey Lopatin set career high of 20 points, most likely Dimitris Itoudis will want to see him against Enisey. The Red-blues also made amends for two straight Euroleague losses: Valencia were beaten with confidence.
Enisey are one of the team that didn’t taste victory this season. And this game doesn’t seem like a real chance. Last season, Krasnoyarsk outplayed CSKA for the first time in 15-game personal history, but today’s situation in the team is different. The quarantine weakened their fitness, and head coach Drazen Anzulovic still can’t manage the team. Anzulovic and some key players will not go to Moscow. The intrigue of this fixture is Mikhail Kulagin and his ex-teammates: after transfer to Krasnoyarsk, he became team leader with 19 points per game.
Time: 17:00 (17:00 MSK)
Venue: Sibur Arena, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Broadcast: TV Start
Zenit still lead the table and do not seem keen on changing that. Zenit is extremely efficient in home games with 92.7 points scored and 76.7 allowed. This week is a breath of fresh air for the team after coronavirus outbreak: Arturas Gudaitis, Mateusz Ponitka came back to practicing as well as Dmitry Khvostov after recovering of an injury. Another piece of good news is Billy Baron named September-October MVP of the United League. Zenit’s new signing averages 16.3 points and 4.3 assists.
Astana have always been perceived as a classic ‘home’ team. Among their four wins over Zenit, only one (in 2015) happened on the road. However, this season, it looks like Emil Rajkovikj’s side decided to change this ‘home’ resume and downed Khimki in Moscow region. But the next game against Avtodor was lost in Saratov with no chance. Their major problems are schedule (4 of 5 away games) and offense. Astana averages 10 points less than Zenit (89.3 vs 79.3).
TIme: 18:00 (20:00 MSK)
Venue: CRS Hala Zielona Góra, Zielona Gora, Poland
Broadcast: TV Start
Fonbet line: Zielona Gora win — 1,23, Tsmoki-Minsk win — 4,15
Zielona Gora finally have something optimistic after unfavorable start (4 losses in a row). Before the last game against Loko, it had been announced the team had dealt with coronavirus and full roster was available. However, quarantine-impacted fitness didn’t allow them to fight Loko which was proved by 114 points allowed (the largest number in 2020/21 season). Home game (only the second this season) against Tsmoki is a chance to cheer up local fans.
Tsmoki-Minsk haven’t played in United League for almost a month. Loss from Zenit on October 4th was the last time. This fixture is Minsk’s third straight away game: they haven’t performed in front of home fans yet. At the same time, their first season trip brought a victory in Krasnoyarsk which places them in top 7 of the table. Sure, this doesn’t meen much with only two games played. The Dragons need to improve performance in the paint as currently they are ranked last in the League with only 25 rebounds per game, while Zielona Gora are in top 6.
