Luke Sikma carries the load for the ALBA frontcourt and he has done so admirably so far this season with averages of 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Though Devin Booker may line up against Sikma at times, the matchup with former EuroLeague MVP Jan Vesely is one everyone wants to see. 

Marquee matchup: Luke Sikma vs. Jan Vesely

Luke Sikma carries the load for the ALBA frontcourt and he has done so admirably so far this season with averages of 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Though Devin Booker may line up against Sikma at times, the matchup with former EuroLeague MVP Jan Vesely is one everyone wants to see. Vesely has started the season in fine form with 13 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Vesely's length, speed and athleticism will make things tough on Sikma, who is often his team's playmaker from the post. Last season Sikma averaged 6.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6 assists in the two games against Fenerbahce, while Vesely was worth 9 points, 5.5 boards and 1.5 blocks. A big game by either could be the difference this time.

The Take: ALBA Berlin vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

ALBA (0-2) came up short 67-71 against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne despite 22 points from Maodo Lo and a stellar debut by Oscar da Silva. The German champs have dealt with a rash of injuries recently and have been particularly shorthanded in the paint.

Fenerbahce (1-1) fell 91-87 in the Greek capital against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. Jan Vesely posted a double-double to lead five Fenerbahce scorers in double figures, but only seven players scored. The home teams have won five of the six previous games between these teams.

Here are some interesting facts about the duel.

Game Facts: CSKA Moscow vs. Zenit St Petersburg

### CSKA Moscow
**Roster**
Marius Grigonis did not play in Round 2.
CSKA signed center Kenneth Faried to a two-month deal on Saturday. He will join the team after completing the documentation required to enter Russia.

**Streaks**
Johannes Voigtmann has made at least 1 three-point shot in 14 of his last 15 games.
Iffe Lundberg has made at least 1 three-pointer in 10 straight games.
Marius Grigonis made at least 1 three-point shot in eight of his last nine games.
Alexey Shved has made at least 1 three-pointer in 19 straight and 44 of his last 45 appearances.

**Rankings**
Alexey Shved led the EuroLeague in scoring last season with 19.8 points per game.
Shved ranked second last season in average PIR with 19.6 per game.
Shved led the EuroLeague last season with 7.7 assists per game.
Shved led the league last season with 3.5 three-point shots made per game.
Marius Grigonis was tied for third in the EuroLeague last season in free-throw accuracy at 94.4%.

**Records/Milestones**
In Round 17 last season, Nikola Milutinov smashed the EuroLeague single-game record with 16 offensive rebounds in a road win over AX Armani Exchange Milan.
Milutinov ranks eighth on the all-time list with 464 offensive rebounds. Bryant Dunston of Anadolu Efes Istanbul is seventh with 469 and counting.
Alexey Shved holds the EuroLeague single-season records with 740 points and 107 three-pointers made, both set in the 2017-18 season.
Shved ranks ninth all-time with 420 three-point shots made for his career. Gianluca Basile is eighth with 421.
Shved ranks 12th all-time in scoring with 2,761 points. Kyle Hines of AX Armani Exchange Milan is 11th with 2,774 and counting.
Shved is tied with Ioannis Bourousis for 10th place all-time with 581 free throws made for his career. Kostas Sloukas of Olympiacos Piraeus is ninth with 590 and counting.
Shved needs 15 assists to reach 800 for his career.
Marius Grigonis is ranked second all-time in free throw accuracy at 92.5%.

### Zenit St Petersburg
**Streaks**
Jordan Loyd has scored in double figures in 12 of his last 13 games.
Loyd has netted 14 consecutive free throws.
Loyd has made at least 1 three-pointer in 12 of his last 13 games.
Billy Baron has made at least 1 three-point shot in 31 consecutive games.
Mateusz Ponitka has posted double-digit PIRs in 10 of his last 11 games.
Jordan Mickey has at least 1 steal in six of his last seven games.

**Rankings**
Jordan Loyd ranked third last season in scoring with 17.3 points per game.
Loyd ranked 10th last season in average PIR with 16.5 per game.
Jordan Mickey ranked seventh last season in scoring with 15.6 points per game.
Mickey ranked sixth last season with 5.8 rebounds per game.
Mickey ranked third last season with 1.5 blocks per game.

**Records/Milestones**
Jordan Mickey needs 1 block to reach 100 for his career.

CSKA Moscow v Zenit St Petersburg (2021-10-12T17:00:00.000Z)

Here are some interesting notes about the duel.

Game Notes CSKA Moscow vs. Zenit St Petersburg

· CSKA is 4-0 against Zenit in the EuroLeague. Last season in Moscow, CSKA beat Zenit 83-65. These four EuroLEague meetings are the only four times that the two Russian squads faced each other outside the domestic competitions.

· CSKA and Zenit faced each other in the finals of the VTB SuperCup in September; CSKA won 81-73 to take the trophy. Will Clyburn scored 18 points in a victory and Billy Baron netted 17 points in defeat.

· Zenit's single-game record for two-pointers made by a player is 10, which Gustavo Ayon set against CSKA in November 2019.

· CSKA guard Alexey Shved was a teammate of Zenit's Sergey Karasev and Jordan Mickey at Khimki Moscow Region last season. Shved and Mickey have also been teammates at Khimki in the 2018-19 season, while Shved and Karasev have also been there in the 2019-20 season.

· Shved and Zenit's Andrey Zubkov were teammates at Khimki for two seasons, from 2017 to 2019.

· Zubkov has been a teammate on the Russian national team with CSKA's Shved, Semen Antonov and Nikita Kurbanov.

· Zenit guard Dmitry Kulagin played for CSKA in the youth categories and professionally from 2015 to 2017. He helped the team win the 2016 EuroLeague title.

· Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Arturas Gudaitis have played together with CSKA guard Marius Grigonis on the Lithuanian national team.

· Kuzminskas and an injured CSKA center Nikola Milutinov were teammates at Olympiacos Piraeus for the first part of the 2019-20 season.

· Mindaugas Kuzminskas posted his career-high in index rating with 30 playing for Unicaja Malaga against CSKA in November 2015.

· The last time these two teams played in the EuroLeague, Johannes Voigtmann posted his career-high in index rating with 31.

· Zenit forward Jordan Mickey posted his career-high with 6 steals playing for Khimki Moscow Region against CSKA in April 2021.

· Zenit guard Jordan Loyd posted his career-high in scoring with 31 points playing for Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade against CSKA last October.

The pace this game is played at will have a great impact on the outcome.

Keys to victory: CSKA Moscow vs. Zenit St Petersburg

CSKA has one of the best offenses in the league, but Zenit has one of the best defenses. While the frontcourt of Round 2 MVP Toko Shengelia, Johannes Voigtmann and Will Clyburn are in excellent form, CSKA will need guards Alexey Shved, Iffe Voigtmann and Daniel Hackett to push the pace and to play tough defense; Zenit's top three scorers are guards Jordan Loyd (14.5 ppg.), Billy Baron (14.0 ppg.) and Conner Frankamp (10.5 ppg.).

While Zenit has shined this season on the defensive end, it has yet to find its offensive rhythm. The team has committed 13.5 turnovers per game and has made only 30.2% of its three-pointers. If the likes of Loyd, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Mateusz Ponitka and Sergey Karasav can join Frankamp and Baron as serious threats from downtown, the entire Zenit attack will buzz more and make big men Arturas Gudaitis, Jordan Mickey and Alex Poythress even more dangerous.

The leaders in performance index rating on these two teams have been their guards: Iffe Lundberg for CSKA Moscow and Jordan Loyd for Zenit St Petersburg.

Marquee matchup: Iffe Lundberg vs. Jordan Loyd

Lundberg is CSKA's joint leader in scoring (15.0 ppg.), is second in rebounds (6.5 rpg.) and leads with 5.5 assists for an average PIR of 21.0. On a Zenit team that is built on defense and averaging 17 points fewer per game (and allowing 23.5 fewer), Loyd leads all scorers with 14.5 points, which matches his PIR. Both can play either guard spot depending on who else is on the floor and there is little question that they will spend time matched up against one another. This marquee matchup could have a big impact on the outcome.

Two Russian powerhouses clash in the Russian capital on Tuesday when CSKA Moscow hosts Zenit St Petersburg.

The Take: CSKA Moscow vs. Zenit St Petersburg

CSKA (1-1) comes off a big road win at defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul in which Toko Shengelia and Johannes Voigtmann combined for 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

Zenit (2-0) held of Zalgiris Kaunas for its second straight road win and it held the home team to less than 70 points in each. Jordan Loyd ran the show with 19 points and Mateusz Ponitka played a great all-around game with 6 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. These two teams met last month in the VTB United League and CSKA prevailed 81-73 behind 18 points from Will Clyburn.

Game Facts: UNICS Kazan vs. FC Bayern Munich

### UNICS Kazan

**Roster**
O.J Mayo and Artem Komolov are in line to make their respective EuroLeague debuts.

**Streaks**
Mario Hezonja has scored at least 12 points in nine of his last 10 games.
Hezonja has made at least 1 three-pointer in nine of his last 10 games.

**Rankings**
Viacheslav Zaitcev ranked sixth last season with 1.32 steals per game and Lorenzo Brown was eighth with 1.30 per game.

**Records/Milestones**
Andrey Vorontsevich is in 14th place all-time with 276 games played in the competition. He needs to appear in 2 more games to catch Dimitris Diamantidis for 13th place.

### FC Bayern Munich

**Roster**
Gavin Schilling made his EuroLeague debut in Round 2.
Joshua Obiesie, Andreas Obst, Christian Skladanowski, Sebastian Hartmann and Aleksa Vucetic are all set to make their respective EuroLeague debuts.
Vladimir Lucic, Leon Radosevic and Nihad Dedovic did not play in the first two games.

**Streaks**
Vladimir Lucic has posted double-digit PIRs in 15 of his last 16 games.
Lucic has made at least 1 three-pointer in each of his last 13 games.
DeShaun Thomas has scored in double figures in four of his last five games dating back to March 2020.

**Rankings**
Vladimir Lucic ranked seventh last season in average PIR with 17.8 per game.
Nick Weiler-Babb ranked ninth last season with 1.2 steals per game.

**Records/Milestones**
Othello Hunter ranks fifth all-time with 486 offensive rebounds. Ante Tomic is fourth with 520.
Hunter ranks 13th all-time with 1,143 rebounds. David Andersen is 12th with 1,144.
Hunter needs 10 blocks to reach 100 for his career.
Zan Mark Sisko ranks second all-time with a 2.86-to-1 career assist-to-turnover ratio.
Leon Radosevic needs 6 steals to reach 100 for his career.

UNICS Kazan v FC Bayern Munich (2021-10-12T16:00:00.000Z)

Game Notes: UNICS Kazan vs. FC Bayern Munich

· This is the first-ever EuroLeague meeting between these two teams.

· The two teams played in the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals in the 2017-18 season. Bayern won the best-of-three series in which the home team won each game.

· Bayern head coach Andrea Trinchieri returns to Kazan where he coached UNICS in the 2013-14 season. He won the Russian Cup with the team, guided it to the EuroCup Finals, and was named EuroCup Coach of the Year that season.

· Bayern forward Vladimir Lucic played under current UNICS coach Velimir Perasovic for a season and a half, from 2013 to 2015, at Valencia Basket.

· Bayern big man Leon Radosevic was still a teenager when he made his EuroLeague debut with Cibona Zagreb. It was Coach Perasovic who made him a full-time starter in the 2009-10 season.

· Bayern swingman Darrun Hilliard made his EuroLeague debut with Baskonia in the 2018-19 season where he played under Coach Perasovic.

· Bayern forward DeShaun Thomas and his UNICS counterpart Mario Hezonja were teammates at FC Barcelona during the 2014-15 season.

· UNICS center Tonye Jekiri posted his career-high with 4 steals playing for LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne against Bayern in February 2020. He dished a career-best 5 assists with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz against Bayern in March 2021.

· UNICS guard Evgeny Valiev grabbed a career-high 6 rebounds playing for Khimki Moscow Region against Bayern in January of last season.

· UNICS guard Viatcheslav Zaitcev collected a career-best 4 steals playing for Khimki Moscow Region against Bayern last season.