Nizhny Novgorod will host a regular season game on Friday.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) vs MINSK (Minsk)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorny
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: The game between teams from the bottom of the standings in the VTB United League is important because one of them is sure to break a long losing streak. Nizhny has a 9-game losing streak, while MINSK has never won this season. The favorite in any case will be Pari NN, which shows a much more complete game. In the last 2 games, Zoran Lukic team barely escaped the clutches against Zenit and CSKA. Both times Nizhny had the right to get at least overtime, but experience and a deeper roster still prevented the team. Due to Dmitrii Khvostov and Ivan Strebkov absence, Lukic had to trust young guard Sergey Zotkin in the game against CSKA, and he did well with scored 20 points and 7 assists. There is one more good news for Nizhny fans: Ivan Strebkov took part in the Russian Cup game, which means that one of the most experienced players on the team may soon be back. In addition, the Volga team signed another super veteran Anton Ponkrashov (for a month for now).
MINSK: The Belarussian team was also very close to its first win against Loko. The Krasnodar team excellent defense couldn’t cope with Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, who scored 38 points – his second-highest of the season. Despite the unfortunate game result, MINSK can take the game in its asset: losing more than 10 points, the team kdidnt’ give up and made last year’s finalists nervous in the end. By the way, it was already the second game with 30+ points in the season for Ogungbemi-Jackson: considering that Kyle Vinales left Avtodor, now Jarred has become the main pursuer of Xavier Rathan-Mayes, although it will be very difficult to catch up with Enisey star – they are separated by almost 10 points per game.
