2020–21 VTB United League

The 2020–21 VTB United League was the 12th season of the VTB United League. It was the eight season that the league functions as the Russian domestic first tier level.

VTB United League
Season	2020–21
Duration	20 September 2020 – 11 June 2021
Teams	13
Regular season
Season MVP	Mantas Kalnietis
Finals
Champions	CSKA Moscow (11th title)
Runners-up	UNICS
Semifinalists	Zenit Saint Petersburg Lokomotiv Kuban
Playoffs MVP	Daniel Hackett
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Teams

A total of 13 teams from five countries contested the league, including nine sides from Russia, one from Belarus, one from Estonia, one from Kazakhstan, and one from Poland.

Venues and locations

Astana

Avtodor

CSKA

Enisey

Kalev

Khimki

Lokomotiv

Nizhny Novgorod

Parma

Tsmoki

UNICS

Zenit

Zielona Góra

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Locations of teams in the 2019–20 VTB United League

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
Astana	Nur-Sultan	Arena Velotrack	9,270
Avtodor	Saratov	DS Kristall	5,500
CSKA Moscow	Moscow	USC CSKA	5,000
Enisey	Krasnoyarsk	Arena.Sever	4,000
Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Saku Suurhall	5,500
Khimki	Khimki	BCMO	4,000
Lokomotiv Kuban	Krasnodar	Basket-Hall	7,500
Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod	Trade Union Sport Palace	5,500
Parma	Perm	UDS Molot	7,000
Tsmoki Minsk	Minsk	Minsk-Arena	15,000
UNICS	Kazan	Basket-Hall	7,000
Zenit	Saint Petersburg	Sibur Arena	6,381
Zielona Góra	Zielona Góra	CRS Hall Zielona Góra	6,080

Regular season

In the regular season, teams play against each other twice (home-and-away) in a round-robin format.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification or relegation
1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	24	20	4	2010	1718	+292	.833	Advance to playoffs
2	Lokomotiv Kuban	24	18	6	2138	1943	+195	.750
3	UNICS	24	18	6	1962	1794	+168	.750
4	CSKA Moscow	24	17	7	2219	1861	+358	.708
5	Nizhny Novgorod	24	14	10	1914	1921	−7	.583
6	Zielona Góra	24	13	11	2094	2075	+19	.542
7	Khimki	24	12	12	2028	1962	+66	.500
8	Parma	24	10	14	1878	1925	−47	.417
9	Avtodor	24	10	14	2019	2092	−73	.417
10	Kalev/Cramo	24	9	15	1821	1998	−177	.375
11	Enisey	24	6	18	1866	2093	−227	.250
12	Astana	24	6	18	1843	2101	−258	.250
13	Tsmoki Minsk	24	3	21	1747	2056	−309	.125

Source: VTB League

Results

Home \ Away	AST	AVT	CSK	ENI	KAL	KHI	LOK	NIZ	PAR	TSM	UNI	ZEN	ZGA
Astana	—	83–92	60–93	60–78	61–77	77–82	86–82	69–79	80–84	74–109	74–87	70–77	88–82
Avtodor	107–85	—	82–98	85–79	87–61	85–82	89–85	93–99	70–93	113–66	97–110	62–89	90–91
CSKA Moscow	100–77	100–66	—	109–60	102–107	92–73	94–80	85–84	95–97	101–67	102–86	71–74	105–73
Enisey	77–76	86–85	80–91	—	89–94	77–92	79–106	86–96	52–86	81–86	77–84	67–85	73–94
Kalev/Cramo	85–92	85–77	72–94	75–86	—	91–84	94–105	86–84	72–85	88–82	49–76	51–87	79–86
Khimki	88–89	80–84	86–78	89–83	92–74	—	90–92	64–69	103–83	89–65	87–93	67–79	94–99
Lokomotiv Kuban	90–84	104–89	103–94	100–98	20–0	91–102	—	73–64	85–68	77–76	93–81	96–81	83–76
Nizhny Novgorod	75–73	86–80	63–83	83–79	95–85	96–85	73–94	—	88–73	78–57	66–91	62–70	100–93
Parma	83–84	93–100	61–95	67–84	80–72	69–72	84–81	67–72	—	74–65	69–76	78–76	79–85
Tsmoki Minsk	78–80	69–86	60–87	74–81	72–80	65–81	75–101	77–76	65–78	—	66–76	73–99	75–80
UNICS	101–83	94–65	76–83	75–64	83–66	83–76	77–98	87–56	69–51	83–77	—	59–58	65–64
Zenit Saint Petersburg	85–52	97–71	81–77	84–71	91–83	78–81	90–85	78–73	89–84	104–73	81–64	—	83–74
Zielona Góra	110–86	77–64	93–90	117–79	88–95	70–89	99–114	93–97	95–92	89–75	92–86	74–94	—

Source: VTB United League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Quarterfinals were played in a best-of-three format (1-1-1). Semifinals and finals were played in a best-of-five format (2-2-1).

Bracket

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2
	8	Parma	0
						1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	1
						4	CSKA Moscow	3
	4	CSKA Moscow	2
	5	Nizhny Novgorod	1
											3	UNICS	0
											4	CSKA Moscow	3
	2	Lokomotiv Kuban	2
	7	Khimki	0
						2	Lokomotiv Kuban	0
						3	UNICS	3
	3	UNICS	2
	6	Zielona Góra	0

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Zenit Saint Petersburg	2–0	Parma	86–66	98–62	–
Lokomotiv Kuban	2–0	Khimki	89–80	92–85	–
UNICS	2–0	Zielona Góra	87–60	90–79	–
CSKA Moscow	2–1	Nizhny Novgorod	84–59	72–76	79–75

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Zenit Saint Petersburg	1–3	CSKA Moscow	73–78	107–104 OT	82–96	71–85	–
Lokomotiv Kuban	0–3	UNICS	87–98 OT	69–79	70–74	–	–

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
UNICS	0–3	CSKA Moscow	77–85	57–76	81–89	–	–

VTB League teams in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
CSKA Moscow	EuroLeague	4th place
Khimki		Regular season
Zenit Saint Petersburg		Quarterfinals
Lokomotiv Kuban	EuroCup	Quarterfinals
UNICS		Runner-up
Nizhny Novgorod	Champions League	Quarterfinals
Tsmoki-Minsk		Regular season
Parma	FIBA Europe Cup	4th place

Awards

Season awards

Award	Player	Team	Ref.
Regular Season MVP	Mantas Kalnietis	Lokomotiv Kuban
Playoffs MVP	Daniel Hackett	CSKA Moscow
Scoring Champion	Marcus Keene	Kalev/Cramo
Young Player of the Year	Nikita Mikhailovsky	Avtodor Saratov
Coach of the Year	Xavi Pascual	Zenit
Performance of the Season	Anton Astapkovich	Nizhny Novgorod
Sixth Man of the Year	Rolands Freimanis	Zastal Zielona Góra
Defensive Player of the Year	John Brown	UNICS
Newcomer of the Year	Gabriel Lundberg	Zastal Zielona Góra
First Team	Mantas Kalnietis	Lokomotiv Kuban
	Mike James	CSKA Moscow
	Marcus Keene	Kalev/Cramo
	Rolands Freimanis	Zastal Zielona Góra
	Jordan Mickey	Khimki
Second Team	Alexey Shved	CSKA Moscow
	Kevin Pangos	Zenit
	Will Clyburn	CSKA Moscow
	Mindaugas Kuzminskas	Lokomotiv Kuban
	Geoffrey Groselle	Zastal Zielona Góra

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2020
September/October	Billy Baron	Zenit Saint Petersburg
November	Alan Williams	Lokomotiv Kuban
December	Gabriel Lundberg	Zielona Góra
2021
January	Jamar Smith	UNICS
February	Drew Gordon	Lokomotiv Kuban
March	Johannes Voigtmann	CSKA Moscow
April	Marcus Keene	Kalev/Cramo

External links

• Official website