Moscow and Kazan will host 2 regular season games on Tuesday.
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
UNICS: the Kazan team had one of the hardest games with the Belarusian team. Yes, the team won – 58:54, but it was the worst performance of the season. Most likely, the reason for this was the opponent underestimation. Now Velimir Perasovic team will host MINSK at home and it is unlikely that the Croatian coach will allow his players to play with MINSK relaxed. Moreover, now there is another legionnaire in the Minsk team who has already proved.
MINSK: In the last round, the Belarusian team won the first game of the season, beating Enisey on the road – even despite the absence of key performers. The key role in Krasnoyarsk win was played by newcomer Supreme Hannah, who scored 18 points and 4 rebounds. Now MINSK is facing the one of the most difficult rivals of the season – UNICS, which has not lost at home in the 2022/23 season yet. At the beginning of November, MINSK was already able to stop the Kazan team offense – now they need to do it again, while improving their offensive game.
MBA (Moscow) – Samara (Samara)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
MBA: The Moscow team is confidently in the Top-4 with 8 wins in 12 games. However, there is also a problem: in a recent game with PARMA-PARI, Aleksandr Khomenko suffered a knee injury. Without Khomenko, the role of the playmaker was taken by Daniil Kasatkin, who scored career high 24 points, which once again showed MBA roster depth. In the previous Newcomers Derby, MBA was in the lead from the first minutes until the end, dominating in rebounds (42-21). Now Samara has slightly changed the roster, and MBA needs to not allow the Volga team leaders to feel confident in offense.
Samara: 3 losses in a row pushed Samara to 7th place. The not too successful performance can be explained: last week the team played with UNICS and Zenit – the standings leaders. And also Malcolm Thomaswas injured, one of the best players of the team. At the same time, Jordan Theodore joined Samara: the guard significantly adds variability and stability to the Volga team offense and this is what the team lacked in the previous game against MBA. To get into the Top-6 teams, Sergey Bazarevich team simply need a win in Moscow. Moreover, Samara wants to beat another League newcomer at least once.
