This will be the teams’ 3rd clash this season. The first one, on October 5th in Krasnodar, was won decisively by Lokomotiv, 93:78. The second, on December 21st in Nizhny Novgorod, was a real whirlwind: both teams scored over 100 points. We won again, 105:101, with Vsevolod Ishchenko‘s 3-pointer in the final minute being the crucial basket.
Since then, Pari NN has played 11 games, undergoing significant roster changes and proving to be a very unpredictable team.
Five days after the high-scoring shootout with Lokomotiv, they allowed Samara to secure a 79:71 victory, which remains their only victory of the season. Nizhny Novgorod then received a predictable away sweep from BETCITY PARMA (79:102), then traveled to Krasnoyarsk and defeated Yenisei (76:72). Point guard Alexander Khomenko was great in that game, scoring 18 points. On the current Pari NN roster, he’s one of only two players averaging double-digit scoring (10.3 points). He’s also tied for 2nd-3rd on the team in steals (0.8), and he’s fouled more often than any other teammate (4.1 times per game).
Nizhny’s captain, Yevgeny Baburin, who spent two good seasons with Lokomotiv, scored 15 points to Yenisei. On his current team, the shooting guard is the best in 3-point shooting (42.9%, 2.4 of 5.5 attempts per game) and in box plus/minus (–1.1).
From Krasnoyarsk, Sergei Kozin‘s team traveled almost across the whole country to St. Petersburg for a Russian Cup quarterfinal match against Zenit-2. Led by Lokomotiv alum Daniil Ginko, the Zenit’s farm team won 84:83, but there was still a game left to play again to determine the semifinalist.
Pari NN returned home and lost a hard-fought battle to Uralmash (73:76). This was one of the last games for Yekaterinburg for both Isaiah Reese, who scored the game-winning 3-pointer, and for then-head coach Rostislav Vergun.
The Nizhny Novgorod team flew back to St. Petersburg, this time to play Zenit’s senior team. And… they beat the silver medalist of the previous championship, not even giving their opponent a real chance – 99:89. That evening, Isaiah Washington (28 points, but he’s already left our league, so we won’t go into detail) and small forward Norbert Lukacs (20 points) had a brilliant game for Nizhny Novgorod. The Hungarian is currently the only foreign player on our opponent’s roster. He leads the team in playing time (25.23) and steals (1.3), also averaging 7.6 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.1 steals.
In good mood, Pari NN returned home, where they suffered disappointing losses first to Avtodor (56:81) and then to Yenisei (55:76). Soon after, Washington and key frontcourt player Hunter Dean terminated their contracts. Of legionnaires, as mentioned earlier, only Lukacs remained.
The team traveled to Kazan, and participated in setting a season record, letting UNICS score more than anyone else had ever this season (the final score was 76:119). However, shooting guard Sergei Zotkin had the best game of his career (20 points). This allowed the 22-year-old to raise his scoring average to 2.3 points per game.
Lokomotiv alum Kirill Popov came close to a double-double in the game against UNICS, scoring 24 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. He currently leads his team in points (11.3), is 2nd in rebounds (4.8), and is the only Pari NN representative called up to the 2026 All-Star Game. Kirill will try his best in the slam dunk contest.
Next, Nizhny Novgorod played the second leg of the Russian Cup quarterfinals. Showing solid teamwork (5 players achieved double-digit efficiency), they crushed Zenit-2 (85:62) and advanced to the Final Four.
Afterward, they managed to win their second game in a row for the first time in a long time, defeating MBA-MAI (79:74). Center Ilya Karpenkov earned a spot on the VTB United League’s Team of the Week following that game (he scored 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds). After Hunter Dean‘s departure, Karpenkov leads the team in rebounds (5.3), and his scoring rate nearly reaches double digits (9.9).
And the one who scored the most points against MBA-MAI (17) was another player remembered fondly by Krasnodar fans: Dmitry Khvostov. At Nizhny, the point guard leads the team in assists (3.9).
There’s a good chance that Pari NN recent newcomer Daniil Klyuchenkov, on loan from CSKA until the end of the season, will play against Lokomotiv. He played just 15 minutes for his native team in the VTB United League, posting stats of 1.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks. But last season, Klyuchenkov was a key player for CSKA-2, which won silver in the Superliga, was named to the Team of the Playoffs, and will likely receive big minutes under Kozin.
The game starts at 7:00 PM.
Go, Loko!