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A Russian clash for a spot in the Top 16

If Zalgiris do as expected and record a win over Sassari home, only one team will advance to the next stage - the one that wins today. Nizhny Novgorod won both head to head games in Kazan, but UNICS made a significant progress since Pasutin took over. Novgorod, on the other hand, are forced to do without their best players and Euroleague top scorer Taylor Rochestie

13 teams have secured a spot in Euroleague Top 16 ahead of the final group stage round. Group A is most interesting because things there aren't settled yet as two more spots in the Top 16 are up for grabs. Zalgiris have the upper hand as the win over Sassari home puts them through, but Novgorod is beyond a doubt the venue of the most interesting final round game - the Russian clash that will decide which of the opponents go through to the next round. UNICS are in a much better situation since they go through even if they lose (only if Zalgiris lose to Sassari). Zalgiris' defeat is the only outcome that would see both Russian team advance to Top 16, while Novgorod need to win. 

The team from Novgorod were in fine form mid-group stage, but home defeats to Zalgiris and Real faced them with a wall ahead of the game in Istanbul. After UNICS beat Zalgiris, Novgorod had to win in Istanbul to keep their hopes up without their top player Rochestie. The team displayed character once again by beating the good-quality Turks and now have the chance to decide their own future as they face UNICS.


It will be third consecutive clash between Novgorod and UNICS this season. Novgorod won both previous ones in Kazan, but Bagatskis knows that the opponents improved when Pasutin joined and will make for a lot tougher opponent. On top of that, Novgorod will not be able to count on Rochestie today, which is a huge handicap as they set to fight against one of the top defenses in Europe at the moment. 


- UNICS are a well-experienced team that change their game since the new coach took over. They are now tougher, but we beat them twice this season. We are focused on our performance and we're trying to prepare for the game. We hope the fans will help us, as they were helping throughout the season - Bagatskis said.


UNICS were hoping they would avoid the drama in the final round, but didn't get any help from Efes and will now need to beat the direct rival, which would have been the final confirmation of the progress they are making since Pasutin got in charge. The team lost only one game lead by him (away in Moscow against the powerful CSKA), while recording some very significant wins. Those wins won't matter if they lost tonight though.


The Kazan-based team are in high spirits after recording their best offense performance since Pasutin took over. Enisej came to Kazan to try and outplay them, which resulted in UNICS scoring 107 points and a convincing win. The productivity was not very good at UNICS for the first few weeks but the win over Enisej served them as a great boost of confidence ahead of the key European game. Five of UNICS' players scored at least 15 points, which happens rarely in European basketball. Zizis finished with 20 points (7/11) and 8 rebounds.


- Recuperating after that Euroleague match with Zalgiris was important. We had less than two days for it, which is definitely not enough. Gubanov, Sokolov, and Antipov who came in from the bench did well today. We have 12 great players to count on and that kind of roster will get us good results. We were a team today - Pasutin said.


UNICS had enough time for recovering ahead of this game meaning they will be absolutely fit and ready for it. It's hard to expect such a brilliant offense performance they had against Enisej, what with this game being much more important and Novgorod being forced to put more emphasis one defense now that Rochestie is out. They limited the opponents to 65, 61, and 59 points in the three games he missed.


- We need to stick to our game, to play good in defense and to stop their leaders Kinsey, Thompkins and Parahouski. We need to pay attention to Kvostov as well. In order to make this a successful game,  we need to prevent the opponent from taking uninterrupted shots and we need to take care of the shooting in the perimeter. The offense has to play smart, avoid the run'and'gun basketball. We want to keep in winning and play as a team - Pasutin said.


- We expect a tough game with Novgorod. They won in Istanbul, played well against Real, beat Riga last Monday away... I know Rochestie is injured, but that won't make it any easier for us because that doesn't seem to be affecting their game at all. Baburin, Kvostov, Parahouski and the Americans play smart a game. Our opponent will have huge fan support in their arena and I'm pretty convinced it will be a tough game Vadim Panin said.

I expect a match in which the score will be decided with a lower number of points, and if anyone should go to higher numbers, it will be UNICS. Nizhny will again be without Rochestie who scored 20 points on average and without whom Nizhny's offense problems are visible. Last week Nizhny beat them in Istanbul, although they were below this margin, as in the home match against the very modest Minsk, while they went over only in crushing Riga on Monday. However, today they will be playing against one of the best European defenses at the moment, and the importance of the match couldn't be higher. For both of them this is practically an elimination match and I expect a huge fight for every point. UNICS played eight matches since the arrival of Pasutin, and in neither did they receive over 75 points (against Madrid and Moscow, one of the toughest matches). They only received above 70 against Enisej on Sunday, in a match which was done by half-time. All of the other opponents are below this margin, and they had opponents who have played a lot faster than Nizhny and had greater offense potential. Pasutin announced that everything will be stemming from the defense, that he has to stop key opponent players. Without Rochestie Nizhny turned to the defense, and the hosts are aware that their chances lie in the lower number of points. I see two scenarios: either UNICS's confirmation that they're the better team at the moment, or a big fight which will be decided in the end. In both cases I expect Nizhny to be below 70 points.