Astana, Saratov and Moscow will host regular season games on Friday.
Astana (Astana) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 20:00 (17:00 Moscow time)
Place: Kazakhstan, Astana, Saryarka
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Astana: The Kazakh team retains chances of getting into the playoffs, although the gap from the 8th place is already critical. In addition, the other day Astana suffered a serious loss: Daniil Aksenov, who scored 12.3 points and 3.5 assists, moved to MBA. The Russian guard spent more than 25 minutes on average and now his minutes and functions will be devided. It is possible that Oleg Balashov will receive more confidence. In the game with Loko, Astana will not have any pressure and this will only benefit it.
Lokomotiv Kuban: Loko will play their last game of the first stage of the regular season in Astana as favorite. Loko is much stronger, which was confirmed in the previous game: the Krasnodar team allowed their opponents to score only 53 points. Since then, Loko has only become stronger – after all, 3 experienced legionnaires have appeared and the young players of the team are progressing. The Krasnodar team is also unlikely to underestimate the opponent, because everyone understands that now the team cannot make mistakes – otherwise it will be much more difficult to follow MBA and Pari Nizhny Novgorod.
Avtodor (Saratov) – UNICS (Kazan)
Time: 19:00 (18:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saratov, DS Kristall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Avtodor: The Saratov team started well with Darko Russo, but in 2023 the team is experiencing a decline with 3 losses in a row. Moreover, Avtodor lost PARMA-PARI, Samara and Enisey in the end. It will be extremely difficult for the Saratov team to end the losing streak, because UNICS is a really strong opponent and the 2nd team in the League. In addition, Ryan Boatwright missed last game and his participation in tomorrow’s game is also questionable. Darko Russo and the team knows how to play with stronger opponents (and even beat Zenit at home), but in this Volga derby Avtodor needs to show their best game, as well as minimise mistakes and make sure that UNICS powerful frontcourt will not dominate in the paint.
UNICS: The Kazan team completes the first stage with a trip to Saratov. The trip does not promise to be easy as Avtodor has high level players. On the other hand, UNICS continues the winning streak, which has been going on for a 1.5 month. Velimir Perasovich team still has chances for the first place at the end of the regular season, but for this it is unacceptable to make mistakes with opponents from the middle of the standings. Andrey Vorontsevich has returned, in general the roster is deep enough and allows not to overload the leaders. Separately, it is worth following the scorers duel: Daryl Macon (18.1 points) from UNICS and Avtodor guard Malik Newman (18.4) lead the list of the best scoring players of the season.
CSKA (Moscow) – Zenit (Saint Petersburg)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: TV Start, Match TV, League website
CSKA: The Army team is close to end the first stage of the regular season undefeated. CSKA showed the best start in the League history and even updated the best for the wins in a row. But this time almost the strongest opponent in the entire League is going to Moscow. CSKA played against Zenit in the SuperCup final, where the Moscow team lost in the end and in November in St. Petersburg CSKA led by 14, but as at the SuperCup, the team almost lost this lead. The Army team probably worked on the mistakes and this time the Moscow team will try to be more focused. The coaching staff and players had almost a week to prepare and there is no doubt that CSKA will come to this game with thoughts about extending the winning streak.
Zenit: On Tuesday, the St. Petersburg team took a loss against MBA in overtime, allowing the League newcomer to make a 20-point comback. But this loss can be a great emotional shake-up before one of the most difficult games of the first stage of the regular season. Zenit has already seriously leave UNICS and CSKA, and another loss will actually put an end to plans to take at least the 2nd place in the standings. Thomas Heurtel continues to make great performances, but the French guard will need the help of the whole team against CSKA. Trey Tompkins along with Richard Solomon will try to stop Nikola Milutinov. And yet Zenit key component is defense, so it could decide the result of the game.
