Zenit vs PARMA. Game 1 preview
Context
Evgeny Pashutin’s team became the final participant of the VTB United League quarterfinals, confidently defeating MBA-MAI in the last play-in game.
Not long ago, our teams already faced each other — also in St. Petersburg — on April 9, when Zenit won a hard-fought battle against the Urals side and secured first place in the regular season ahead of time.
After that, PARMA played two games against Pari Nizhny Novgorod — one for home-court advantage in the play-in, and the other in the play-in round itself. They lost both, but managed to prove their worth in the decisive matchup against the Moscow team, earning their spot among the league’s top eight.
The visiting team’s key players remain the same: top scorer Garrett Nevels (16.7 points per game), the tournament’s top rebounder Royce Hamm (8.3), and newcomer Stanley Whittaker, who averages 7.3 assists per game.
Head-to-head
There are at least three games ahead. All face-offs this season have ended in victories for St. Petersburg. Over the history of the rivalry, Zenit has won 21 times, while PARMA has only managed three victories.
Quotes
Zenit head coach Xavi Pascual on the start of the playoffs:
This is a new time for all the teams, also for us, it's new basketball, everything is completely different. Here it's time to win games, doesn't matter the way, but the most important is to win. And especially we have to start strong at home, because we wanted this possibility to play always with home advantage. So this first period we will play with home advantage, so at home we have to be solid. And everything will start on this Tuesday, but we have to be ready for one very difficult game.
Who. Where. When.
Opponent: PARMA
Location: CSC Arena, St. Petersburg
Date: April 22, 19:30 (local time)
Broadcast: Match! Igra, VTB United League website
