Yekaterinburg and Samara will host 2 regular season games on Monday.
Uralmash (Yekaterinburg) vs Avtodor (Saratov)
Time: 19:15 (17:15 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Yekaterinburg, DIVS
Broadcast: League website
Uralmash: After the loss at the end of the game against MBA, the team has fully rehabilitated by beating Astana by 35 points to remain at the top of Group B. However, Samara, which also won in the last round, continues to follow Rostislav Vergun team: both teams now have 19 wins in 33 games. Much of the game result for first place in the group will depend on the face-to-face game between Uralmash and Samara, which will be on March 28, so it is highly desirable for the Yekaterinburg team to get leader status. This season, Uralmash has only played Avtodor in the first stage and exchanged road wins. An important argument is the team lost only once at home with Vergun coaching.
Avtodor: Despite the fact that Uralmash plays at home and leads Group B, the hosts cannot be considered clear favorites. The Saratov team found the game and had a great stretch with 7 straight wins and surging to third place in Group B. Only Samara managed to stop the Volga team winning streak in a very tight game. Samara managed to limit Avtodor offense score only 66 points, which never dropped below 80 points during the winning streak. The previous games between these rivals were very competitive, especially December game, which Uralmash won 98:87.
Samara (Samara) vs Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod)
Time: 19:00 (18:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Samara, SKK Dvorets Sporta.
Broadcast: League website
Samara: At the moment Samara continues to hope to get win in Group B, but has not completely yet secured from Avtodor threat. Therefore, this round could be a defining one. If the team will manage to beat Nizhny, and Avtodor loses to Uralmash, Drazen Anzulovic team can consider second place guaranteed – it will be very difficult for Avtodor to catch up. However, a loss to Uralmash in the parallel game would be the best possible result for Samara, in which case it could top Group B as early as this round. The schedule favors the Volga team: starting with the game against Nizhny, the team will play 4 of their next 5 games at home.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: The loss against Avtodor didn’t affect Nizhny mood to get back into the play-in battle. Already in the next round Nizhny Novgorod team defeated MINSK in a difficult game. The team was much more affected by their participation in the Russian Cup Final Four, which made it difficult to prepare for the United League games. As a result, Kasey Shepherd, Filipp Gafurov, Vladimir Ivlev and Dmitry Khvostov missed the game with MINSK. Whether they will be able to participate against Samara remains unknown. At the same time, the result is critical for Nizhny Novgorod: in case of a loss, Zoran Lukic team will have virtually no chance to clinch a play-in, especially considering that Nizhny Novgorod will play 3 consecutive road games. Nizhny Novgorod has yet to beat Samara in the current regular season, losing both games in the first stage by the same 6-point difference.
