The schedule is getting busier
For the second week in a row, our team is heading off on a long road trip. This time, it's Uralmash...
Answering the challenge
After all the possible breaks, the team’s schedule has become extremely tight and now resembles playoff mode. For the second week in a row, the Army Men are forced to embark on a long road trip—not so much in terms of distance, but rather in terms of time. As with their trip to Saratov, the red-blues will stay in Yekaterinburg after the game and fly home on Friday morning. And on Sunday, they'll be back on the court at the arena in Krylatskoye, albeit in an away game against MBA-MAI.
Before heading to the Urals, the Muscovites traditionally trained at the Basket Hall. The team had to make do without Livio Jean-Charles, who is ill. Ivan Zaitsev is currently working on an individual program; the coaches are hoping for the young guard's quick return to action.
"It is always challenging to play in Yekaterinburg," notes CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. "Uralmash is a good team that will play with no pressure. We need to use this game to find our rhythm and respond to the challenge.”
From fifth to eighth
Uralmash has already lost even the theoretical chance of home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but it continues to fight for a higher position in the second four. Here, depending on the outcome, the Yekaterinburg team could rise from its current seventh place to as high as fifth, but it's impossible to drop below eighth.
Every game against the Uralmash team is a battle for CSKA. And the most intense was the last one, which the opponents played for the first time under Anton Yudin, who took over the team in January. The Yekaterinburg team’s top scorer remains Garrett Nevels – 15.3 points on 41.9% three-pointers, 3.1 assists, followed by Octavius Ellis (12.7 points, 5.0 rebounds), Tyrell Nelson (11.8 points, 5.1 rebounds) and Timofey Gerasimov (11.6 points, 4.1 assists).
Past matchups
Win/loss ratio: 9-0
Games of the 2025-26 season
29-Oct-2025. CSKA - Uralmash: 95-72 (+23)
17-Dec-2025. Uralmash - CSKA: 64-86 (+22)
21-Jan-2026. CSKA - Uralmash: 87-84 (+3)
Brief dossier
Uralmash Yekaterinburg
Founded: 1960
Colors: orange, black, green
Home arena: Palace of Team Sports (5,000)
President: Viktor Ganienko
Head coach: Anton Yudin
Website: bcuralmash.ru
Trophy case: Russian Cup winner (2025), 2-time SuperLeague champion (2022, 2023), SuperLeague vice-champion (2021), SuperLeague-2 bronze winner (2018), SuperLeague-3 champion (2017)
