Leicester Riders look to build on their three-game winning streak with a trip to the Bristol Flyers.
The 13-4 Riders continue their hunt of the top of the table, level on losses with their two competitors for the Championship.
Meanwhile the Trophy Finalist Flyers are 5-10, and hope to bounce back from a three-game slide in league action.
Fixture information
Bristol Flyers vs Leicester Riders
Super League Basketball Championship
SGS Arena
Friday, February 7, 7:30 pm
Riders rolling in title fight
Leicester Riders, London Lions and Sheffield Sharks and engaged in a three way fight for the top of the SLB Championship table.
The Riders have three games in hand on the first-placed Lions, who are 17-4, making it crucial for Leicester to keep the win column ticking over in the second half of the season.
Convincing wins against Cheshire Phoenix, Manchester Basketball and most recently Surrey 89ers have done exactly that for Leicester in their last three outings.
The 91-81 win against Surrey, led by 20 points and 7 assists from Jaylin Hunter, was a tie game going into the fourth, but Leicester’s team ball saw them over the line, winning the final period 27-17.
The Riders lead the League in assists with 21.4 per night, with 7.3 coming from star guard Hunter.
Defensively, the League’s best shot blocker Charles Thompson was at his brilliant best, sending four shots away on the night. Thompson averages a block more than any other player in the country with 2.8 per game, meaning the Riders send away a league leading 5 a night.
Hunter’s playmaking and Thompson’s defence will be essential ingredients if the Riders are to have league-winning success on the back end of the year.
Flyers playing league leaders tough
Reaching the Trophy Final in January has been the peak of the Flyers’ success this season, and have since lost form to fall to eighth in the standings.
They’re 2-5 since the Final, but played the top two in the league standings close in their last two outings, falling in single-digits to the Sharks and the Lions.
The Flyers led in the third in London, but despite hanging around wire-to-wire, couldn’t overcome London once they snatched the lead back.
The electric Kedrain Johnson, who has scored double digit points in every league game this season, is the second leading scorer among all players with 19.4 points per game. He’s always a threat from anywhere on the court, and with two 30 point games to his name this season, Leicester will be locked in on Johnson from the jump.
Having played the Sharks and Lions tough in their last two outings, Leicester will have to be at their best to maintain their winning run and keep the pressure on the teams above them.
Previous meetings
These familiar foes have met four times so far this season, the Riders possessing a 4-0 record against the South Westerners.
Leicester have won the games by an average margin of 17.3 points, and took a dominant 35 point win against the Flyers in January led by 20 points from Zach Jackson.
This is only the second trip to Bristol for the Riders this season, however, a place where the Club have endured hard-fought battles in the past. That includes an overtime war in the Trophy Group phase this season in which Leicester escaped as four point winners.
The Riders should therefore expect to have to overcome an energy-filled Flyers side in front of a raucous home crowd to take a win back to Leicester.
Where to watch
This game will be streamed live on DAZN. You can watch it here!
