Nizhny Novgorod, Minsk, Saratov and Kazan will host regular season games on Sunday.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – CSKA (Moscow)
Time: 14:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorny
Broadcast: Match TV, TV Start, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny losing streak has already reached 8 games. Previously, Nizhny Novgorod haS never lost 8 games in a row in their history. After Avtodor win, Zoran Lukic team dropped to the penultimate place, letting the Saratov team ahead. And yet Pari NN came as close as possible to breaking that streak against a very powerful opponent – Zenit. Both teams are severely weakened by injuries, but the St. Petersburg team was better: Nizhny led early in the final quarter, but Evgenii Baburin fouled out and lost. 5 players are out for now (Apic, Vorontsevich, Strebkov, Khvostov and Chadov), while Bryon Allen suffered a bruised hand against Zenit. If he can’t play against CSKA, Nizhny Novgorod chances are reduced to a minimum, and the Volga team will have to wait for their next game against MINSK.
CSKA: The Army team look like a machine that is very hard to stop right now. Neither could the reigning champion, who lost to CSKA at home. Surprisingly, the Moscow team beat UNICS with front court, dominance in rebounding and pressure in the paint. Tonye Jekiri – Amath M’Baye – Livio Jean-Charles trio scored 43 points. It will be intersesting to see how Nizhny Novgorod will stop the bigmen. Meanwhile, CSKA is even more pinned at the top of the standings – UNICS is already 3 wins behind and the gap could widen even more after Sunday game.
MINSK (Minsk) vs. Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Belarus, Minsk, Falcon Club
Broadcast: Start Triumph, League website
MINSK: The team was close to get first win of the season against Avtodor. The Belarusian team game inspired optimism for 3 quarters. But in the final quartert the lack of rotation had played a key role. As soon as Grigory Motovilov and Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson made shots, there was no one to support. Motovilov should be especially disappointed: MINSK guard was unstoppable that night, setting the United League career-high in points.
Lokomotiv Kuban: The loss to Astana seems to have really motivated the Krasnodar team. Loko followed that up with win against CSKA, and then picked up big wins over Avtodor and Runa. With such last results, last season’s finalist broke into the Top 5 for the first time in the current regular season. It may be too early to say that Loko has overcome all of its early problems, but Aleksander Sekulic team is showing every sign of recovery. The game against Runa was a good example: although the Krasnodar team was one step away from their first 100 of the season, it’s hard to single out anyone individually (team leaders DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and Jaylen Barford each scored 17 points). The rotation performed even better than the starting five – 49 versus 47 points.
Avtodor (Saratov) – PARMA (Perm)
Time: 17:00 (16:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saratov, DS Kristall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Avtodor: The game with MINSK was the best opportunity for Avtodor to end the losing streak, and the Saratov team didn’t miss this opportunity. With their 4th win of the season, the team defeated Nizhny. Avtodor’s main rival at the moment is PARMA, which is close in the standings, so Sunday game will be very important. Despite the win over MINSK, Avtodor systemic problems haven’t gone away yet: the Saratov team managed to beat the Minsk team in the fourth quarter with to deeper rotation. On the other hand, Vasilije Pusica has looked bright in recent games and Sindarius Thornwell, who hasn’t played since November 8, returned and made his first double-double of the season – 13 points and 11 rebounds.
PARMA: After stunning loss to Zenit, the Perm team is gradually recovering: the team fought well against UNICS, beat Astana and was close to road win over Samara. In that game the Perm team lost in rebounds. Evgeny Pashutin also noted that the team allowed the hosts to get 13 offensive rebounds. When they lost Solomon and brought in a young center, the roster got a little smaller. And still had to make rebounds. Indeed, with an average of 40 rebounds per game, this time PARMA made only 28. Avtodor will have a tough time, but Samara was far from the leader. Evgeny Pashutin can only hope it was sole event.
UNICS (Kazan) – MBA (Moscow)
Time: 18:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website.
UNICS: The main game of the fall became a refreshing for UNICS. The Kazan team couldn’t show their best that could keep the team in second place in the standings – aggression, power in the paint, and dominance in rebounds. All of these were demonstrated by their opponent, and one of the best front courts in the League was limited to 21 points. In that sense. A more objective problem is the absence of one of the team’s key players Marcos Knight, which was very noticeable against CSKA (even Emil Rajkovic noted it in his postgame interview).
MBA: After the game against Uralmash, Vasily Karasev said that he ending not in his team’s favor. Despite losing Octavius Ellis in the first quarter, the Yekaterinburg team didn’t give up and managed to stop MBA offense in the end with active defense. So the Moscow team failed to extend the winning streak to 3 games. MBA still has some trouble with choosing the main offensive option is on this team. In the game against Uralmash, neither Lopatin, nor Minchenko, nor Yakushin played well, so Evgeny Voronov had to take the leadership. This is the second 20-point game of the season for the veteran, but, the Moscow team lost both of those games.
