Nizhny Novgorod will host the regular season game on Monday.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) — Zenit (Saint Petersburg)
Time: 19:00 (19:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagornyy
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod played last game 6 days ago, making one of the most incredible comebacks of the season: in 68 seconds, the Volga team made a 9-point comeback in Krasnodar and ended Loko winning streak. Zoran Lukic team managed to play in the Russian Cup before Zenit, knocking out UNICS with Macon and Labeyrie and making it to the Final Four. But now Pari Nizhny Novgorod has an even more difficult task – to defeat the reigning champion. Zenit won both games, although Nizhny did not lose with ease. However, at the second stage of the regular season Pari NN has already shown that the team is not afraid of anyone: NN lost only 1 point to UNICS, played with CSKA until the 4th quarter. The game with Zenit is a great test for Lukic team and an opportunity to see problems in order to have time to fix them for the playoffs.
Zenit: Like Nizhny Novgorod, the St. Petersburg team played in the Russian Cup this week, defeated Uralmash without any problems and also getting into the Final Four. Zenit is going to Nizhny Novgorod in the status of the only team that has beaten CSKA this season. A week ago, not only Heurtel and Karasev played good, but also newcomers showed well. In particular, Trent Frazier became the best scoring St. Petersburg team player and got into the Team of the Round. Frazier can become the element that Xavi Pascual lacked so much. But so far, the guard has played only 1 game it is hard to make conclusions now. The road game versus Nizhny Novgorod defense will be a test for both Zenit and Frazier.
