Keys to victory: ALBA vs Zenit
Sikma is the man for ALBA
As in recent seasons, ALBA Berlin plays with good flow on offense and shares the ball well. It ranks sixth in assists (17.0 apg.) and power forward Luke Sikma delivers 4.0 of those on average. Getting Sikma involved on offense allows ALBA to play with a better rhythm, as he can find open shots for shooters like Maodo Lo and Tamir Blatt, or feed Ben Lammers and Chris Koumadje off the high post. Zenit St Petersburg has been without traditional point guards, with Jordan Loyd and Billy Baron playing out of their natural positions. Putting defensive pressure on them could help ALBA to get easy fastbreak points off turnovers.
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Zenit: point guard solutions are key
Zenit is without Shabazz Napier, Conner Frankamp and Mateusz Ponitka. Dmitry Kulagin is its main option at the '1' spot right now. Last week, Baron and Loyd combined for 47 points in a win against Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and just 20 in a loss against Real Madrid. Being able to get its scoring duo involved is important, as well as stopping Sikma. Zenit can turn to Alex Poythress to play physical against Sikma and give him trouble at the other end of the floor with his explosiveness and quickness. Zenit remains one of the best defensive teams in the competition, allowing just 73.4 points per night, and must use that strength in each game.