On Sunday, Nizhny Novgorod and Krasnoyarsk hosts 2 regular season games.
Enisey (Krasnoyarsk) – Astana (Astana)
Time: 15:00 (11:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Arena Sever
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Enisey: On Thursday, the Krasnoyarsk team lost to MINSK at home, which became the fourth loss in a row for Drazen Anzulovic team. In three of four games, Enisey lost from 2 to 5 points – the Siberian team was close to win, but there was not enough quality in the endings. Now Astana is coming – the team against which Enisey had the best game of the season, winning with a 31-point difference – 88:57. By the way, the last Anzulovic team win this season was in the capital of Kazakhstan.
Astana: After not a good start to the season, the Kazakh team signed two American guards – but they cannot play on the road due to “technical reasons”. Without their new legionnaires, Astana offense did not look too productive – the team scored only 59 points in Nizhny Novgorod. On the other hand, the opponent in Krasnoyarsk is slightly different in play level, which gives Astana fans hope for a win. The Kazakh team may well take advantage of Enisey decline to end their 7-game losing streak. Of course, will be interesting to watch two centers battle – Michael Maers and James Thompson, who are in the Top of the League in rebounds.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – Zenit (Saint Petersburg)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorniy
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: A trip to St. Petersburg 3 weeks ago was not the most pleasant for the Volga team. At least, the first half of that game: Pari NN scored only 20 points in the first half and trailed by 18. But Nizhny did not give up and even revived in the second half, reducing the difference in to only 6 points. Still, it was not possible to beat the reigning champion on the road – now there is a chance to do it at home. First of all, Pari NN needs to figure out how to break Zenit defense, which is the best in the League. The next task is to stop Thomas Heurtel: French guard played out and in the previous round set a season high with 16 assists. Zoran Lukic team knows how to surprise – Niznhny should be ready for the game against Zenit with concentration and not allow the guest team to feel confident.
Zenit: The St. Petersburg team has not lost for almost a month: after that win over Pari NN, the team beat Loko, MBA and Samara. Yes, Zenit is good in defense, but also good in offense. The St. Petersburg team is really hard to guard and the opponent never know who can perform this time. Dmitriy Kulagin scored 24 points against MBA, Thomas Wimbush made a double-double with Loko, Trey Tompkins became the best scoring player versus Samara, and there is also Thomas Heurtel. This Zenit does not have a first offensive option: the best scorer is Trey Tompkins with 10.9 points per game, but at the same time 8 players score from 7 to 11 points. Of course, a lot is really tied on Heurtel, who is not only the performer, but also the playmaker, but even without the French guard on the floor, the St. Petersburg team look very solid.
