Bold predictions for Round 26

Check out some bold predictions from EuroLeague.net staff members for Round 26 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

Milan to surprise Real Madrid at home

by Geoff Gillingham

I know that I backed EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to win both of its games during the double-round week last week, a prediction which ended with me having egg on my face, but I have a feeling that Ettore Messina’s side will knock off the 22-3 Real Madrid on Thursday night and keep its play-in hopes alive. Milan shares a 10-15 record with four other teams while Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv currently occupies the final play-in spot with a 13-12 mark. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade is the best placed team to jump into play-in consideration with a 12-13 record, but Milan has the quality to make a late surge. It just needs Nikola Mirotic to start taking over, and what better game for him to do that than against Real, his former employer?

ASVEL will shock Baskonia

by Igor Petrinovic

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne has been either upsetting, or flirting with upsets, in recent weeks, and I believe it's time for the French side to pull out another shocker. ASVEL and its red-hot point guard Paris Lee travel to visit Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, which has had its share of ups and downs in recent weeks. Unlike ASVEL (5-20), which is in a share of last place, Baskonia (13-12) is in the middle of a tight playoff race. At first, all things point to another Baskonia home win against bottom-dwelling visitors, but not if you ask me. Under new head coach Pierric Poupet, ASVEL has been playing with confidence and poise, which led to playing highly competitive road games against Real Madrid, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and Virtus Segafredo Bologna, as well as a road upset against FC Bayern Munich. For this tilt, ASVEL should also get its star forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot back, while Baskonia has been without Tadas Sedekerskis, Matthew Costello and Khalifa Diop. ASVEL will enjoy playing the role of a spoiler on Tuesday night.

Monaco snaps Virtus's home winning streak

by Javier Gancedo

AS Monaco suffered a 59-83 home loss against Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 2. The circumstances were very different, and even though Virtus is 11-1 at home this season, I believe Monaco will steal a road victory in Bologna. Monaco arrives to this game in great shape, winning its last four games behind an unstoppable Mike James, who is in the prime of his career. Monaco has been outstanding on defense, too, allowing just 70 points against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade and 69 against Fenerbahce. John Brown is in great shape now and could be the antidote against the usually unstoppable Toko Shengelia. And unlike last time, Monaco now has Jordan Loyd, who gives Coach Sasa Obradovic another strong backcourt scoring option. Virtus is the favorite and on an 11-game home winning streak, which should come to an end this week.

Road warriors celebrate!

by Frankie Sachs

Two of my colleagues above have predicted upsets on the road. I am going a step further to say that the majority of the games in Round 26 will see the visiting teams celebrate. I already predicted in this space last week that Olympiacos Piraeus was about to mount a charge up the standings. After back-to-back wins, the Reds are my favorites to triumph in Valencia. Can Nick Calathes and Georgios Papagiannis, under Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, lead Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to victory against their former team, Panathinaikos? You bet they can! Can Zalgiris Kaunas continue its revival under Coach Andrea Trinchieri to beat Crvena Zvezda Merdianbet Belgrade? Of course! Will Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv shake off its troubles at Anadolu Efes Istanbul? It’s quite possible. Add in top-ranked Real Madrid visiting Milan and the predictions above of ASVEL and Monaco winning on the road give you a plethora of road warriors to believe in.