Krasnoyarsk, Moscow and St. Petersburg and Minsk will host 4 regular season games on Sunday.
Enisey (Krasnoyarsk) – Samara (Samara)
Time: 17:00 (13:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Arena Sever
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Enisey: The Krasnoyarsk team won 7 of 9 games and kept their hopes of making the playoffs. The day before the end of the regular season, Avtodor clinched the last spot in the playoffs by defeating PARMA-PARI at home. Thus, their home game against Samara would be Enisey’s final game of the season. Despite that, the Siberian team is determined to end the season on a positive note and thank their fans for their support. Drazen Anzulovic team has a good chance of winning.
Samara: The League newcomer also had a chance to make the playoffs until last week. But, like Enisey, Samara was defeated by Avtodor on Tuesday. For Sergey Bazarevich team the game in Krasnoyarsk had no significance. The only motivation for the Volga team is to finish their first season in the League higher. Samara has a chance to bypass Enisey – the team need the win on Sunday to do so. That won’t be easy as 3 players left before the regular season ended: Marcos Knight and Ivan Lazarev to UNICS and Yuri Umrikhin to Pari Nizhny Novgorod.
CSKA (Moscow) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 14:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, Match TV, League website
CSKA: The Army team guaranteed first place in the standings in advance, allowing the coaching staff to correctly distribute the workload on the leaders before the playoffs. By the way, the team found out their opponent for the quarterfinals on Saturday – Avtodor, which CSKA beat twice this season (102-75 and 103-76). Still, the Moscow team doesn’t plan to approach Sunday’s game with Loko not motivated as the game will be in Megasport and that CSKA has a chance to bring home another win for its fans. In addition, the Army team has a chance to become the first team in League history to win 30 games in the regular season.
Lokomotiv Kuban: The Krasnodar team also knows their opponent in the first round of the playoffs: Pari Nizhny Novgorod. Which of these teams will have home court advantage remains to be seen. Nizhny Novgorod gave Loko a good opportunity for the fourth place, losing their last game and now everything’s in Alexander Sekulic’s control. The Krasnodar team need only a win, or they’ll return to Nizhny Novgorod for the first 2 games of the quarterfinals. Here’s just the stats against Loko: The last time the team beat CSKA on the road was more than 5 years ago – in January 2018.
Zenit (St. Petersburg) – UNICS (Kazan)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, Sibur Arena
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, Match! Igra, League website
Zenit: The game in St. Petersburg will be one of the most interesting of the day. Both teams have done their goals and in the playoffs, but neither Zenit nor UNICS has any plans to lose in the final game of the second stage. The reigning champion finishes the regular season in third place, but the important thing is that during the second stage of the regular season Xavi Pascual’s team found their rhythm, and one of their leaders, Thomas Heurtel, returned on time after a month-long absence.
UNICS: just over a month ago, before the All-Star Game, UNICS went after first-place CSKA, but ultimately fell behind. With the win over MBA, the Kazan team secured their second place, maintaining their distance from Zenit. UNICS made some changes in the final week of the regular season: Marcos Knight and Ivan Lazarev moved from Samara to Velimir Perasovic team. While the Russian bigman didn’t get much time during the season, Knight was one of Samara’s leaders, averaging 16.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals. The game in St. Petersburg will be a great opportunity for the players to get to know their new team better.
MINSK (Minsk) – Astana (Astana)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Minsk, Falcon Club Arena
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
MINSK: The Belarusian team probably can’t be happy with its performance in the season – only 2 wins in 31 games and sixth place in Group B. MINSK was improving over the season, but injuries and lack of skill played a role. Still, the Minsk team has a chance to finish the regular season on a positive note. MINSK have had a week to prepare for this game, while their opponent has been on the road for nearly 2 weeks. The main task of Rostislav Vergun team is to adjust properly psychologically, not to let their emotions get the better of them and not to be afraid. Minimize turnovers, paint control and fans support are the factors that should help MINSK win its third game of the 2022/23 season.
Astana: The Kazakh team also failed to make the playoffs and therefore can hardly consider the season a success, although the team won more games than MINSK. There’s no doubt, though, that Astana will have motivation.Players and the coaching staff are trying to end their 7-game losing streak. By the way, the last Oleg Kiselev team win was over MINSK – it happened on February 1 at home. To repeat the success will not be very easy, because Astana is on the road from March 13, in addition, Kwame Vaughn and Oleg Balashov will miss the game. A huge responsibility will fall on Markell Johnson – he will have to manage the team’s offense, while not forgetting about the defense.
