The two-round week continues with 4 Thursday fixtures
Game Center: Oly steals the W at Maccabi; Dubai, Milan, Fener grab wins
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Thursday, October 16
Dubai Basketball 83-78 FC Barcelona
Dubai grabbed its second win of the week by downing Barcelona, 83-78. The host took a double-digit first quarter lead behind Mfiondu Kabengele and Filip Petrusev, but Barca gradually fought back to go ahead after consecutive slams by Toko Shengelia, and a pair of Joel Parra three-balls helped make it 33-34 at the break. Petrusev’s personal 7-0 run kept Dubai close in the third quarter, which ended with several lead changes before Dwayne Bacon sent the host ahead, 58-56. A flurry of triples gave Dubai a 71-63 lead midway through the fourth, and Barca’s misfiring offense could not get ahead again.
Petrusev topped the scoring with 23 points and also added 8 rebounds, while Kabengele had a double-double of 10 points and 13 boards. Bacon added 20 points and backcourt teammate McKinley Wright IV netted 11 points with 6 assists. Barca was held to its lowest points total of the season as only two players scored in double digits, with Shengelia joined by Dario Brizuela on 19 points. Both teams are now tied near the top of the standings with a 3-2 record.
Zalgiris Kaunas 78-89 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Milan rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Zalgiris Kaunas 78-89 on the road in Round 5 on Thursday. Milan improved to 2-3 in the standings, stopping a three-game losing skid, while Zalgiris dropped to 3-2.
Quinn Ellis, Giampaolo Ricci, Shavon Shields and Devin Booker led the winners with 15 points apiece. Marko Guduric added 14 while Leandro Bolmaro had 10 for Milan, which fired in 12-of-21 three-point shots. Arnas Butkevicius paced Zalgiris with 20 points, all of which came in the first half on 6-of-7 three-pointers. Moses Wright and Nigel Williams-Goss each added 15 points while Azuolas Tubelis had 14 for the hosts, who led 31-15 midway through the second quarter.
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 88-73 FC Bayern Munich
Fenerbahce bounced back from three straight losses to grind out an 88-73 home win over Bayern, leaning on tight defense to get the job done as Mikael Jantunen paced the champs with 15 points, shooting 5 of 6 from downtown. Scotttie Wilbekin netted 14 points for Fenerbahce, Wade Baldwin chipped in with 13 and Devon Hall added 10 to engineer an eighth successive win over Bayern, as Andi Obst, Wenyen Gabriel and Isaiah Mike amassed 13 points each for the visitors.
Bayern made a brighter start and took a 14-20 lead at the end of the first quarter as the home side looked completely disjointed. Fenerbahce turned the tide with a 20-7 run in the second with Wilbekin coming to the fore from long range, and the hosts then held on for a 37-32 advantage at halftime. Fenerbahce moved up a gear after the break and led 62-46 ahead of the final 10 minutes, with Hall sinking 5 successive points early in the third quarter to give the hosts some breathing space. The writing was on the wall for the visitors after Baldwin and Wilbekin sank successive threes at the start of the fourth quarter, and Fenerbahce was in cruise control for the rest of the contest.
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 94-95 Olympiacos Piraeus
Olympiacos finished the game on a 1-14 run to stun Maccabi 94-95 at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade after trailing for nearly all of the game. Sasha Vezenkov scored the game's final 5 points and the Reds celebrated after Lonnie Walker missed at the buzzer for Maccabi. The result was Olympiacos's sixth straight win over Maccabi and boosted its record to 3-2, while dropping Maccabi to 1-4.
Vezenkov finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Reds while center Nikola Milutinov also scored 23 and Tyler Dorsey tallied 18 points and 5 assists. Jeff Dowtin Jr. led Maccabi with a personal-best 24 points and Walker netted 15 in defeat.
Friday, October 17
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Real Madrid (19:00 CEST)
Two teams in great form will attempt to extend their winning runs as Zvezda (2-2) welcomes co-leader Real (3-1). Sasa Obradovic made a winning start to his reign as Zvezda coach by overpowering Zalgiris on Tuesday, and will hope for another stellar performance from forward Jordan Nwora, who ranks second in the league with 24.0 PIR per game. Real’s win over Partizan earlier this week owed a lot to a strong debut from fit-again Theo Maledon, as the French guard gave a fresh dimension to a previously lacklustre offense by scoring 16 points in 14 minutes. The Spanish team will hope that Walter Tavares (19 points and 8 rebounds earlier this week) can deliver another dominant display despite the strong form of Zvezda center Donatas Motiejunas (13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per night).
AS Monaco vs. Valencia Basket (19:30 CEST)
Two of the nine teams tied in the middle of the standings go to battle with Valencia (2-2) visiting Monaco (2-2). Both suffered defeats earlier this week, with Monaco enduring a bad night offensively as it was held to 73 points at Virtus. Star scorer Mike James will be particularly keen to bounce back after making just 1 of his 11 field goal attempts, and the Roca Team could also use a return to form from Nemanja Nedovic after a slow start to the season (2.2 points per game). Valencia could be the ideal opponent for an offensive upturn because the Spanish team has the next-to-worst defense in the league, allowing 94.8 points per game. That was Valencia's downfall in Wednesday's home defeat to Hapoel, but the offensive prowess of Darius Thompson - 13 points and 8 assists last time out - will lead the quest for a road win.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (19:30 CEST)
A big battle in Istanbul will see Efes (2-2) and Panathinaikos (3-1) aiming to complete a perfect week. Greens' boss Ergin Ataman warmed up for his latest reunion with Efes by grabbing a narrow win over ASVEL on Wednesday, when big man Richaun Holmes truly announced himself in a Panathinaikos uniform with a huge double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, including 7 at the offensive end. So Efes center Georgios Papagiannis – going up against his former club – will have to take particular care of defensive rebounds. In the backcourt, a battle of superstars will see league MVP Kendrick Nunn attempt to continue his stunning form (30 and 26 points in the last two games) against Shane Larkin, who made all 4 of his three-pointers in Tuesday’s win at Olympiacos.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs. Virtus Bologna (20:00 CEST)
ASVEL (1-3) will seek home comforts with a visit from tough Virtus (2-2). The Italian team delivered a strong defensive performance to overcome Monaco on Tuesday, while Carsen Edwards showed he has already taken control of the offense by netting 24 points. ASVEL must find fresh energy after putting up a good fight but ultimately losing at Panathinaikos, where Nando De Colo rolled back the years with 18 points and 7 assists. But the French team gave up 13 offensive rebounds in that defeat so Virtus forward Saliou Niang, who averages 2.8 offensive boards per night, will hope to profit. ASVEL has also struggled for inside offensive presence, ranking last in the league in two-point conversion (49.7%), so needs more from center Basien Vautier after averaging just 3.0 points over the last three games.
Paris Basketball vs. Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv (20:45 CEST)
The last two EuroCup champions search for more success at the highest level as Paris (3-1) welcomes Hapoel (3-1). Both have made an excellent start to the season to claim a share of the leadership, with Paris inspired by league leading scorer Nadir Hifi (23.3 points per game). Another strong backcourt performer for Paris is Justin Robinson, who netted 21 points in Wednesday’s win over Baskonia, so stopping that dynamic duo is a key task for Hapoel’s guards. That challenge will be led by masterly veteran Vasilije Micic, who propelled his team to victory at Valencia two days ago with 24 points and 6 assists. It will also be a special night for Hapoel forward Collin Malcolm, who is returning to face his former club after two hugely successful seasons with Paris.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (20:45 CEST)
Baskonia (0-4) will aim to end its status as the league’s only winless team with a visit from Partizan (2-2). The Spanish team’s defensive woes continued with a heavy loss at Paris on Wednesday, leaving Baskonia with more points allowed (98.8 per game) than any other team. There’s no problem at the other end of the court, where Timothee Luwawu-Cabarrot (19.2 points per game) and Trent Forrest (5.8 assists per night) lead an offense which has averaged 90.5 points, so Partizan will need Jabari Parker to continue his hot hand after netting 23 points in Wednesday’s loss at Real Madrid. The Serbian team has the league’s worst perimeter defense (42.6% of three-pointers allowed), so Baskonia shooter Markus Howard will hope to emerge from a slump after missing his last 9 triples.