Russian VTB United League Lokomotiv Kuban vs Unics Kazan 9/23/2021

Russian VTB United League Lokomotiv Kuban vs Unics Kazan 9/23/2021 Picks Predictions Previews

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Unics Kazan are hosting Lokomotiv Kuban at the Basket Hall Kazan in Kazan on Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 12:00 ET in this Russian VTB United League first round matchup. This will be a high caliber duel between two of the three best teams of the league last season. Both teams had the same record and Unics ended up second in Lokomotiv third in the league. They clashed in the semifinals of the league where Unics swept their opponents 3-0 wins and advanced to the Finals.

Unics Kazan finished the regular season with an 18-6 record and were second in the league. In the playoffs they eliminated Zielona Gora in the quarterfinals 2-0, Lokomotiv Kuban in the second round with 3-0 and were defeated in the league Finals by CSKA Moscow 3-0 wins. In their previous game they got defeated by CSKA Moscow with an 89-84 score. They played poor defense as they allowed their opponents to shoot with 63.6% from the paint and 41.9% from downtown and were led in scoring by John Brown III with a game-high 25 points. He was 11-15 from the paint and added a game-high 11 rebounds.

Isiah Canaan led the team in scoring last season with 14.3 ppg, while Jamar Smith added 13.9 ppg and 3 assists per game.

Unics Kazan averaged 81.4 ppg offensively and allowed 75.3 ppg defensively. They had a 46.4% field goal percentage and a 37.6% 3-point percentage.

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Russian VTB United League Lokomotiv Kuban vs Unics Kazan Predictions 9/23/2021

Lokomotiv Kuban finished the regular season with an 18-6 record as well and were third in the league. They eliminated Khimki in the opening round with 2-0 wins before getting eliminated by today’s opponent Unics Kazan with 3-0 wins. In their last game they got defeated by Unics on the road with a 74-70 score, even though they shot better than their opponents both from the paint (54.3% to 50%) and from downtown (33.3% to 25%). Nigel Williams-Goss led the team with a game-high 17 points, adding 7 rebounds and a game-high 7 assists.

Alan Williams led the team both in scoring with 22.1 ppg and in rebounding with 13.1 per game. Jordan Crawford added 18.4 ppg and 3.2 assists per game.

Lokomotiv Kuban had the second-best offense in the league with 90.2 ppg while allowing 81.3 ppg defensively. They had the best field goal percentage with 50.7% and a 34.5% 3-point percentage

Unics led Lokomotiv 3-1 wins last season but were 1-1 at home. They won with a 74-70 score and they lost with 77-98. Unics are 7-1 in their previous eight meetings at home. They had a 9-2 home record last year, while Lokomotiv were 8-5 on the road. Unics are the favorite at home and have a huge advantage over the recent year, so expect them to win by more than 6 points in today’s Russian VTB League opener.

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