Daytime derby

Another part of historic rivalry between the most famous clubs in Russian basketball will be held in Krylatskoe at 1.30 pm on Sunday when Dynamo will host CSKA.

Army team is going through a difficult period: difficult victory in Vitoria, a five-hour flight - and only two days of recovery and practicing. The players had a shootaround at USH CSKA on Friday night already, and held a training session on the floor of Dynamo arena on Saturday afternoon. Matjaz Smodis and Dmitry Sokolov are still on the injured list. Sokolov had the cast boot removed from injured foot, but continues intensive rehabilitation of damaged ankle ligaments.

"Historically, games between CSKA and Dynamo were special and interesting, - the head coach of our team Evgeny Pashutin said. - Dynamo shows quality game with NT players Bykov, Monya and Savrasenko leading the team. Opponent plays aggressively, uses a lot of peak-and-roll, and individual qualities of wingers Bykov and Monya. Plus, Savrasenko is back to his best shape and the bench players also help. Dynamo is able to provide real battle to any opponent, and the recent meeting with Red Star in Belgrade was decided only at the last minutes. We are playing on the road and set to a serious battle. Our medical staff is doing everything possible to recover the leaders after a tough victory at Vitoria. It is important for them to be physically fresh, and the players who didn’t play that much playing against Caja Laboral should help."