Two regular season games will be played on April 11 and 12.
Wednesday, April 11
Time: 7:00 PM (7:00 MSK)
Place: Saku Suurhall, Tallinn, Estonia
TV: VTB-League.com
Kalev: Back-to-back losses have dropped Kalev to 12th in the League and damaged the team’s playoff hopes. Only three more games remain on the schedule, including two vs. top-3 teams (CSKA and Zenit), plus a showdown with Astana, another postseason hopeful. CSKA will be favored on Wednesday, even if Isaiah Briscoe is available after missing Kalev’s previous game due to injury.
CSKA: The Army Men have won nine in a row vs. Kalev. The first meeting of the season was no exception, though Tallinn kept it close until the final minutes, becoming the only team this season to score 100 points against CSKA. Surprisingly, Briscoe only contributed 13 points in the shootout. CSKA takes pride in shutting down opposing scorers, limiting Nizhny sniper Stevan Jelovac to seven points over the weekend, which means Kalev has to play as a team and give 110% to have any shot at an upset.
Thursday, April 12
Tsmoki-Minsk Belarus – Khimki Russia
Time: 7:00 PM (7:00 MSK)
Place: Falcon Club, Minsk, Belarus
TV: VTB-League.com
Tsmoki-Minsk: Minsk continues to fight for a playoff spot, winning three of its last five to take over 8th place. The Dragons would love to stay there.
The club is in relatively good position and could even afford a loss on Thursday. On the other hand, surprising Moscow Region at home would put Tsmoki in the driver’s seat when it comes to securing a spot in the postseason.
Khimki: Khimki is hoping to tighten its grip on 5th place and put some pressure on Zenit and Lokomotiv-Kuban with a win in Minsk on Astronaut Day. The Yellow-Blues trail 4th-place Krasnodar by two and a half games, but a late charge is not inconceivable, especially considering the Railwaymen’s recent results.
Khimki has a big advantage on offense in this match-up. Tsmoki is last in the League, averaging 73.2 points per game, while Khimki has Alexey Shved, the leading scorer in both the VTB United League and the EuroLeague (the first Russian to ever do so). On the other hand, Khimki has been beset by injuries. After the game vs. PARMA, Bartzokas noted that his team looked more like a medical institution than a basketball club.
