By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
The VTB League regular season was completed following Zenit’s 103-95 OT victory against Astana on Sunday and now eight teams are getting ready for the battle of the playoffs.
The playoffs tip off in May and feature a best-of-five format (2-2-1). The team with the higher seed will host the first two games of the series. These are the match-ups: CSKA – Nizhny Novgorod, UNICS – Kalev, Khimki – Astana, and Lokomotiv-Kuban – Zenit.
Let’s take a look at the pairings:
CSKA Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod slides into the playoffs as the bottom-placed team of the top 8 and will face the reigning champions of the league. While the favorite here is pretty clear, their matchups throughout the season have always been tough. CSKA already counts two wins in the regular season, though Nizhny didn’t go down without a fight. The Army Team looks to get the job done and celebrate its presence in two Final Fours this May.
Key players: Nando De Colo (CSKA Moscow) / 16.3 ppg, 3.4 apg – Kendrick Perry (Nizhny Novgorod) / 16.2 ppg, 6.8 apg, 3.3 rpg