On Sunday, Samara and Saratov will host 2 regular season games.
Avtodor (Saratov) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 17:00 (16:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saratov, DS Kristall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, League website
Avtodor: The Saratov team had 3 losses in a row and fell back to 9th place in the standings. The changes were not long in coming: two new legionnaires appeared in Avtodor – guard Malik Newman and forward Danilo Nikolic. The Montenegrin bigman has not yet arrived, but the American guard is ready to make his debut in the League against Loko. Unlike most of the previous games with the Krasnodar team, Avtodor has at least good chances to win and the home court gives a slight advantage. Avtodor impressive front court must defend Martiuk–Willis duo, and if the Saratov team shows good offensive basketball, the team has the right to count on the end of a loosing streak.
Lokomotiv Kuban: A week ago, the Krasnodar team showed their best defense of the season, stopping Astana at 53 points scored. But now it will be much more difficult in Saratov: Avtodor is a dangerous opponent who always fights to the end. Among the key Loko players, Darral Willis should be singled out, he averaged a double-double in the last 4 games – 17.8 points and 10 rebounds. Another thing will be that Anton Kvitkovskikh is back to Saratov: the 22-year-old forward grew up in the Avtodor system since 2016, until this summer he moved to Loko.
Samara (Samara) – MBA (Moscow)
Time: 18:00 (17:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Samara, Dvorets Sporta
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Samara: This is the first newcomers rivalry, that is why interest in it is only increasing. The start of the season was different for them: MBA showed the best debut in the history of the tournament, but Samara needed time to get used to a new level. But gradually the the Volga team gained momentum and is already on the 4th place. In the last rounds, Ennis–Knight duo looks unstoppable, which is gaining a total of 34 points this season. At the same time, the coaching staff has significantly expanded the rotation in recent games. For example, Anton Kardanakhishvili and captain Vladimir Pichkurov appeared at the start, and all 12 players participated against Astana. Samara is progressing noticeably, and in case of success in the newcomers derby, the Volga team will replace Zenit in the standings.
MBA: The newcomers have the same wins and losses balance (4-3), but they achieved this by completely different methods. If Samara result is provided by legionnaires, then MBA roster consists of Russians only. And if it was impossible to single out the leader in the first games, then at the end of the month it became more than obvious. Khomenko – Lopatin duo tops the list of the best scorers of the team, while the first got the best in steals (2.0), the second – in three-pointers percentage (60%). At the same time, chemisyry have been worked out very well in MBA, the Moscow team show good basketball – this is one of the factors of a successful start of the season.
