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The first quarterfinal series game between Novosibirsk and UMMC Ekaterinburg. The game is best out of three. Novosibirsk ended the regular part of the Russian championship with a 8-12 score, and that's about their last year's level. The team is similar to what they were last year, two foreigners plus a lot of young Russians aged between 21 and 23. In the last 12 rounds, Novosibirsk got only two wins. UMMC Ekaterinburg have been in top notch form lately. The coach Olaf Lange isn't sparing his best players anymore. He can use five foreigners in the Russian championship, so he mostly spared his best players: Taurasi, Griner and Toliver. He used his best lineup in the last round and beat Nadežda 89-57, and Nadežda are one of the best defensive teams in Euroleague. UMMC mostly played Euroleague with their full lineup, and didn't go under 88 points in the last seven rounds (except Nadežda). Besides that convincing win, they crushed Famila twice in the Euroleague (by 45 and 35 points). UMMC also played Novosibirsk in the last year's Russian championship quarterfinal, and won 99-39 on the road, and 108-48 at home. This season, they won 74-56 (25-38), but Griner, Taurasi and Toliver were out then. Those three didn't play at home either, when they won 84-56 (46-23), and when they were focused on the Euroleague. Even though there's no official confirmation that UMMC will use their best lineup today, considering the coach Lange's practice in the playoff and the fact they've got no other obligations right now (Euroleague Final Four is mid April), I expect them to go full throttle today.
Novosibirsk lost the game against the second to last placed Kazanochka in the last round, and it's not like they didn't need the win because it could've helped them skip MBA Moscow, get the sixth place and avoid UMMC now. They lost 61-99 at home to Nadežda (25-42), and 57-84 (30-45) to Kursk. They lost 51-95 on the road against Kurks (25-48) and 56-73 to Nadežda (23-44). The club published yesterday that they ended their contract with the wing center Williams (because of an injury), one of two foreigners, and the second best scorer of the team with 14.8 points, and the best rebound player with 9.1 rebounds in 32 minutes on the floor per game. She was their best scorer in their last duel against Kazanochka, with 15 points and seven rebounds.
There's a huge difference in quality here, and Novosibirsk are even more weakened now, so I doubt they can resist. I think all the picks here are good, both the total handicap and the first half handicap, and the guest team over.