St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novogorod, Saratov and Kazan will host regular season games on Sunday.
Zenit (St. Petersburg) vs Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 14:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, KSC Arena
Broadcast: Match TV, TV Start, League website
Zenit: Zenit has 9 wins in last 10 games. The loss to CSKA ended a 7-game streak, but the team has already started a new streak with wins over MBA and Astana. In the game against the Moscow team, the intrigue disappeared at the start of the second half – Zenit finished the game with a 45-point lead. The game against the Kazakh team was also fully controlled by the St. Petersburg team. Zenit dominated in rebounds (43 vs 23), and Kyle Kuric scored 30 points for the first time in the season. Zenit already played Loko in Krasnodar exactly 2 months ago, when the hosts won 69:67.
Lokomotiv Kuban: The win over Uralmash was Loko 8th straight home win. Aleksander Sekulic’s team was already ahead by 24 at the start of the second quarter and confidently brought the game to a win. However, the team’s road games results are not as good: 4 wins in 9 games. Zenit last lost at home on November 5 (83:3 against UNICS). Both teams are playing extra-class basketball, and the game will be a highlight of one of the last game days of the year.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) vs Enisey (Krasnoyarsk)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorny
Broadcast: League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Zoran Lukic team ended a 3-game losing streak against Runa. Newcomer Casey Shepherd strengthened the team from the first minutes: he finished the game with 21 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and a steal, while making 6 of 11 shots from the game. For Pari NN the game with Enisey is not the last one this year. The team will still have time to please the fans with a game against UNICS on December 30. Although Lukic team has only 5 wins in 17 games, still has a chance to safe the season. And home games against top-seeded teams will be a good test.
Enisey: Enisey defeated MINSK on the road, but then failed to beat Lokomotiv Kuban on the road, and lost to Avtodor at home as well. The Saratov team not only guarded Xavier Rathan-Mayes well (12 points, his worst performance of the season), but also shut down the hosts shooters, who made only 4 of 26 shots (15.4%). However, Jovica Arsic team remains firmly in the Top 4. PARMA (10-8) and Samara (10-8) have caught up, but Enisey has every chance to finish the first round in the Top 6. After the New Year, the Siberian team has 3 home games in a row: against MBA, UNICS and Runa.
Avtodor (Saratov, Russia) vs Astana (Astana, Kazakhstan)
Time: 17:00 (16:00 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saratov, DS Kristall
Broadcast: Start, League website
Avtodor: The Saratov team defeated Enisey on the road. Avtodor has a chance to develop that success and move up to the top of the standings – the game with Astana start a home games series. However, Avtodor has only 1 home win this season. On the road, the Saratov team is better: the win over Enisey was their 6th in 10 road games.
Astana: Astana can not catch a rhuthm and mix wins and losses. In St. Petersburg, Oleg Kiselev team managed to put up a fight with Markell Johnson performance. The American guard scored a record-breaking 30 points, and also made 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. It wasn’t enough to win, but the guard is motivated to repeat the performance. The teams have already played in Astana, where the hosts got a 13-point win.
UNICS (Kazan) vs Samara (Samara)
Time: 18:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website.
UNICS: The Kazan team extended the winning streak to 4 games against MINSK. The reigning champion had the best scoring game of the season so far. Velimir Perasovic team managed to score more than 100 points in only 17 League games, although the team is the League’s highest scoring team (89 points per game). After Samara, the kazan team will next play in Kazan on January 13. Before that, the team will face Pari NN, Runa and Enisey on the road.
Samara: Drazen Anzulovic team has a 3-game winning streak. Although Samara came out of the bottom of the standings (MBA, MINSK and Runa), UNICS should not underestimate their opponent. The teams have already play on October 22 – Samara got the win. James Thompson traditionally dominated in the paint and got more offensive rebounds (8) than all UNICS (7). Next up for Samara is a test against CSKA.
