Nizhny Novgorod will host the regular season game on Monday.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – UNICS (Kazan)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorniy
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: The road lose versus Zenit took away the hopes for the 3rd place. But now Zoran Lukic team has another goal – to bypass Loko and control MBA. Nizhny need to get as many wins as possible, regardless of the status and strength of the opponent. Pari NN has already shown that the team can play equally with everyone. At the end of January, NN was close to win in Kazan, but lost in the end. Now Nizhny Novgorod has a chance to beat UNICS for the first time in the season, especially considering the decline of the Kazan team. Also last week, Pari NN announced Nikola Jovanovic left the team, and Terell Parks signing – the 32-year-old player has already been included in the roster and can make his debut in the Volga Derby.
UNICS: The All-Star break badly-affected on the Kazan team – for the previous 7 days the team got 2 loses in a row for the first time in the season. Now the chances for the first place in the regular season are purely theoretical – the gap from CSKA is huge. Velimir Perasovic team needs to gain pace as the playoffs will begin this month. The game in Nizhny Novgorod will be quite difficult. In recent games, the team looked convincing on rebounds, getting more than Zenit and CSKA, but at the same time scored worse. The Kazan team has poor three-pointers percentage and turnovers worsen the situation. Therefore, UNICS need to stabilise the offense in the upcoming game. It looks quite difficult, considering that Pari NN is one of the best defensive teams of the season.
