Astana and St. Petersburg will host regular season games on Wednesday.
Astana (Kazakhstan) – MINSK (Belarus)
Time: 17:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Kazakhstan, Astana, Saryarka
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Astana: The Kazakh team is forced to rebuild after Daniil Aksenov moved to MBA. The guard was one of Astana leaders – the team scored 32% of all its points after shots or assists from the Russian guard. Now even more pressure will fall on Markell Johnson and Kwame Vaughn, who already played a lot. The game with MINSK will be especially important, because if Astana will wil, firstly, it will remain in the race for the playoffs, and secondly, the team will move away from the Belarusian team. 3 weeks ago, the teams already met in Kazakhstan and then Astana looked much stronger: it was focused on the fight for all 40 minutes, won the rebounds and did not allow the opponents to develop fast breaks, letting the rivals to score less than 50 points for the first time in the season. If Oleg Kiselev team demonstrate the same tight defense, the team can guarantee a win today.
MINSK: The Belarusian team is in a difficult situation – it is seriously behind all rivals in Group B. To revive, it is inportant to win on the road in Astana. By the way, there are all conditions for this: if Astana lost Aksenov, then MINSK strengthened the backcourt with DaQuan Bracey, a guard who finished the previous season in the Czech Republic, averaging 14.3 points and 3.6 assists. None of players are injured and MINSK is ready. The key to success should be turnovers reduction and the mood for revenge – without this, it will be difficult to win on the road.
Zenit (Saint Petersburg) – MBA (Moscow)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Sibur Arena
Broadcast: TV Start, Match TV, League website
Zenit: The St. Petersburg team for the first time had 3 losses in the regular season with Xavi Pascual. And this unfortunate series began just against MBA, when Zenit lost a 20-point lead. However, since then the reigning champion has strengthened: forwards Adrien Moerman and Royce Hamm have appeared, who have already made their debut in Sunday’s game against Loko. Yes, the newcomers have yet to get to know the team, but there is no doubt that Zenit will add from game to game. The game with MBA will be a good test for Xavi Pascual team. It will depend on whether the St. Petersburg team was able to quickly move away from the loss to Lokomotiv Kuban, whether Zenit is ready to return to the winning path.
MBA: 2 weeks ago in Moscow, the League newcomer created a real sensation, beating Zenit. But now Vasily Karasev team faces an even more difficult task – to defeat the reigning champion for the second time in a season, and even on the road. At the same time, MBA needs to win, because Loko and Pari NN can move the team to the 6th place at any time. Of course, the Moscow teame will not be the favorite in this, but MBA are able to impose a tight game.
