Around 2,000 fans of the Turkish club are expected to be present at Copper Box Arena.
London Lions’ chase for top-two spot to be tested by boisterous Besiktas
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4 Mins read
Both the London Lions (10-5) and Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul (9-6) have already booked their spots in the BKT EuroCup Playoffs, but Wednesday night’s Group A meeting at a sold-out Copper Box Arena offers plenty of intrigue.
London comes into this game third in the standings and has a realistic shot at finishing in the top two, with Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv in second with an 11-4 record, while Besiktas is fifth and is jostling for home-court advantage in the postseason.
Contrasting fortunes
This has been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde type of season for Petar Bozic’s London squad, with the team going 3-4 on its home floor and 7-1 on its travels. Dejan Alimpijevic’s Besiktas, meanwhile, is 5-2 at home and 4-4 on the road.
Last time out, London fell at home to an on-fire Joventut Badalona, 80-82, on a last-second game-winner by Andres Feliz, which was made all the more frustrating by the fact that Hapoel lost at home to Paris Basketball earlier that night. For Besiktas, it needed an overtime period to defeat ninth-placed Veolia Towers Hamburg, 83-94, having almost thrown the game away in the fourth.
With around 2,000 Besiktas fans expected to be in attendance at Copper Box Arena, a boisterous atmosphere is a guarantee, so Coach Alimpijevic will be hoping his team can take another step towards achieving a top-four finish and, with it, home-court advantage in the playoffs.
In that sense, London needs to be careful as the team currently occupying fourth spot, Joventut, is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak and is also looking to fight Hapoel for second spot. The Israeli side, playing its home games in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, has lost its last two fixtures on its home floor and next welcomes Prometey Slobozhanske, which has the sixth and final playoff spot in its hands.
An exciting end to the regular season
As such, there is plenty to play for in these final three games of the regular season. Hapoel has a tricky end to the campaign, facing Prometey (sixth, 8-7) at home before back-to-back road games at Joventut (fourth, 10-6) and Besiktas (fifth, 9-6). The rising Joventut also has a tough stretch to close the regular season, with Carles Duran's squad having lost to first-placed Paris (15-1) on Tuesday night and having two games against teams in the playoff positions: Hapoel at home and then Prometey on the road.
It is a similar story for Besiktas, too. After taking on London, the Turkish outfit closes the regular season by hosting Paris and Hapoel in successive games. Yet, a victory against the Lions could provide the momentum Besiktas needs ahead of turning BJK Emlakjet Sports & Event Hall into a fortress in this decisive stretch of the campaign.
London, which ends the regular season by facing two teams that are out of the playoff race in Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (0-15) and Wolves Vilnius (5-10), therefore has the chance to make a late surge – starting against Besiktas on Wednesday night.
Players to keep an eye on
London remains without star forward Sam Dekker, but Matt Morgan is a huge threat at the guard position, new signing David Nwaba has made an impressive impact in his two games so far, and Gabe Olaseni has the skills to cause plenty of damage on the interior.
When London travelled to Istanbul to take on Besiktas earlier in the season, Olaseni came up with 24 points in an 80-83 win, while Morgan had an all-round night with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Something similar will be needed if London is to come out with the victory once again.
Besiktas also has plenty of weapons, such as Jonah Mathews, Matthew Mitchell and Angel Delgado, with Kyle Allman having been added as a mid-season addition to bolster Coach Alimpijevic’s options. Derek Needham is another who has the ability to come up big when needed.
It should be an incredible game at Copper Box Arena and, as you have read above, there is plenty on the line. Make sure to tune in from 20:30 CET on Wednesday!