Moscow and Krasnodar will host 2 regular season games on Tuesday.
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Moscow, Basket Hall Moscow
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, Match! Igra League website
MBA: The Moscow team started the second stage of the regular season not too successfully, losing to CSKA and Zenit. With the home loss against Pari NN in mid-January, MBA has – 3-game losing streak, which is why the League newcomer is at the 6th place in Group A. If MBA plans to get the highest place, it is necessary to correct the situation now. Vasily Karasev team lost both games against UNICS this season, but both in October and in January the Kazan team had lead only in the fourth quarter. Now UNICS is clearly not in the best shape, which is what MBA should take advantage of. The main thing is to correctly manage the team for all 40 minutes and not allow the opponent to play well in the end.
UNICS: In the previous game, the Kazan team took the biggest loss of the season, allowing Loko to score 103 points. Head coach Velimir Perasovic also admitted that his team is now on the decline, so the road game against MBA will be quite hard. At the same time, Jalen Reynolds is close to returning and this can significantly strengthen the frontcourt. UNICS has almost guaranteed a place in the Top 2, but at the same time retains chances for the first seeding in the playoffs. But to achieve this goal, the Kazan team can no longer stumble, including in the next game against MBA. However, UNICS has an advantage over rivals both in most stats and in rivalry history– 2-0 this season.
Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar) – Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Lokomotiv Kuban: The Krasnodar team has significantly proved. Loko has not lost for almost a month and has a 4-game winning streak. At the second stage, the team beat Zenit (92:90) and UNICS (103:70), rising to a clean fourth place in Group A. The newcomers Chris Horton and DeVaughn Acoon–Purcell fit into the team quite fast, and Okaro White is close to his debut for Loko. Therefore, on Tuesday, the Krasnodar team could extend the winning streak, and at the same time they will try to achieve another goal – to beat Pari NN for the first time in the season.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Like Loko, Nizhny Novgorod has gained good form, but at the second stage the team has not been able to perform so well yet. The Volga team had 2 losses and if they lost to CSKA in the middle of the game, then in Kazan with UNICS NN was close to a sensation – but they failed to guard Daryl Macon. Now Pari NN has a difficult trip to Krasnodar, which can be a key one. After all, in case of loss, Nizhny Novgorod will be far from Loko in 2 wins, and it will not be so easy to regain the fourth place. However, Zoran Lukic team has better defense (75.9 points against 77.1) and won both games qgainst Loko this season, and it was in a defensive style – twice the Krasnodar team could score more than 80 points.
