The Group B leaders will play in Samara on Friday.
Samara (Samara) – PARMA-PARI (Perm)
Time: 19:00 (18:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Samara, SCC Dvorets Sporta
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Samara: Sergey Bazarevich team is close to achieving a serious goal – getting into the playoffs in its debut season in the United League. However, in the previous round, Samara lost in Saratov, allowing Avtodor, to get closer in the standings. The Volga team need to correct the situation and strengthen at the 7th place, and for this it is simply necessary to beat the Perm team. However, Samara has already beaten PARMA-PARI twice this season and is ready to do it again. The team is slightly losing in performance and rebounds, but has better ball handling: in January the team was the 2nd in the League in turnovers (12.2), while the Perm team was in the Top 3 (16.8). Pressure on th eopponents point guards and a correct shots should allow Samara to win the game.
PARMA-PARI: The first Perm team game at the second stage of the regular season will be in Samara. More than two weeks have passed since the previous PARMA-PARI game, and this factor may affect the team’s playing tone. But PARMA does not have time to warm up: in order to guarantee a place in the playoffs as early as possible, the team needs to beat a rival for a place in the Top 8. At the end of January, PARMA-PARI signed Ryan Boatwright, who started the season in Avtodor and scored 13.2 points and 6.7 assists. Boatright should add depth to the Perm team and aggression in offense – that is, just what Evgeny Pashutin team lacked to win against Samara in previous games.
Return: Isaiah Reese started the season in Samara, but failed to prove and moved to PARMA-PARI in December. The guard played 4 games for the Perm team and averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds. Now Reese is returning to Samara as part of a new team and will be as motivated as possible to play against his former club.
