By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Currently, six teams can rest assured for their playoffs ticket. CSKA Moscow, Unics Kazan, Lokomotiv Kuban, Zenit St. Petersburg, Khimki Moscow and Avtodor Saratov have already sealed their spots, while only two teams can join for the playoffs picture to be complete.
With the current standings, Nizhny Novgorod and Parma are the teams most likely to advance, though both will need to win their next three games.
Nizhny faces Unics, Avtodor and Lokomotiv, while Parma has to fight over Avtodor and the top two teams of the season, CSKA and Unics.
Even if Parma wins all three games, they’ll have to watch out for Tsmoki-Minsk, that currently has the same record (7-14) and they face Enisey, VEF and Zenit in the remaining games. A lighter schedule as it seems, yet the Belarusian team will have to keep intact in order to earn their playoffs place.
For the moment, we also have another tie in the standings, as Loko and Zenit both currently hold a 15-6 record. The Kuban side faces Enisey, Khimki and Nizhny Novgorod and Zenit will have to fight against Unics, CSKA and Tsmoki in order to rise up to the third place.
To put things in perspective, the possible pairings are the following:
- CSKA Moscow (1st) vs. Parma / Tsmoki / Nizhny Novgorod (8th)
- Zenit / Lokomotiv (4th) vs. Khimi (5th)
- Unics (2nd) vs. Nizhny Novgorod / Parma / Tsmoki (7th)
- Lokomotiv / Zenit (3rd) vs. Avtodor (6th)