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Game Center: Crucial victories in the playoff race this Friday night
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Friday, January 26
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 78-80 AS Monaco
Monaco snapped a three-game losing streak by downing Efes 78-80 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall. Monaco improved to 13-10 in the standings while Efes dropped to 9-14. Mike James and Elie Okobo led the winners with 16 points apiece. Jordan Loyd added 14 and Alpha Diallo had 11 and 9 rebounds for Monaco. Rodrigue Beaubois led Efes with 15 points. Shane Larkin added 14, Derek Willis 13 and Elijah Bryant 12 for the hosts.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 62-77 Valencia Basket
Valencia enjoyed a perfect night at Buesa Arena, defeating Baskonia 62-77 to take the head-to-head advantage between the teams by just 1 point and leave both teams on a 12-11 record. The visiting team led from the beginning to the end and used a big surge towards the end of the second quarter to claim a double-digit margin, which stayed intact for nearly the entire second half.
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 81-72 Zalgiris Kaunas
Partizan stayed on course to reach the EuroLeague Playoffs, as it improved its regular-season record to 12-11 after a hard-fought 81-72 home win over Zalgiris, which dropped to 8-15. P.J. Dozier paced Partizan with 23 points, 15 of them in the first quarter, as he also dished out 4 assists and played superb defense to cap his best performance for the Serbian club. Zach LeDay added 21 points and 5 rebounds, while Frank Kaminsky chipped in with 12 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter. At the other end, Keenan Evans stood out for Zalgiris with a game-high 25 points and Laurynas Birutis added 11 to go with 5 boards, but the Lithuanian team faded in the fourth quarter in a fervent atmosphere after racing into an early 4-15 lead.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 74-70 FC Barcelona
Milan returned to winning ways in the EuroLeague by downing Barcelona 74-70 at the Forum in Round 23. Milan improved to 10-13 in the standings while Barca dropped to 15-8.
Shavon Shields paced the winners with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Rodney McGruder added 11 points and Alex Poythress had 10 for Milan. Jan Vesely led Barca with 28 points. Jabari Parker added 11, Willy Hernangomez had 10 while Nikola Kalinic pulled down 10 rebounds for the guests.
Thursday, January 25
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 88-75 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Fenerbahce improved to a 14-9 record and 8-2 in the Saras Jasikevicius era by defeating Virtus 88-75 in Round 23 at Ulker Sports and Events Hall. By losing in Istanbul, Virtus dropped to a 15-8 mark. Johnathan Motley was Fenerbahce's main weapon offensively, netting 19 of his 23 points in the first half. Scottie Wilbekin had 15 points, of which 12 came in the second quarter, while Marko Guduric added 10. Virtus guard Iffe Lundberg had 14 of his 17 points in the opening 20 minutes, Awudu Abass contributed 12 points and Isaia Cordinier and Daniel Hackett recorded 11 apiece.
ALBA Berlin 89-80 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
ALBA celebrated a rare win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after a brilliant first-half performance helped the German team down visiting Crvena Zvezda 89-80, which severely dented the Serbian side's hopes of making the postseason. ALBA improved to 5-18 while Zvezda dropped to 9-14 as its inconsistent form continued to hamper its bid to keep up with playoff-chasing rivals. Matt Thomas paced the home side with 19 points, while Gabrielle Procida chipped in with 17. Sterling Brown added 12 points and Yanni Wetzell racked up 11 to go with 9 rebounds for the home team. Yago Dos Santos led Zvezda with a game-high 20 points, as Rokas Giedraitis netted 15 and Javonte Smart scored 14 for the visitors. Adam Hanga chipped in with 10 points for Zvezda but the visiting team was undone by poor shooting from all over, having made just 21 of 43 shots from two-point range and 7 of 26 from downtown.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 90-75 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Maccabi got back to winning ways in Round 23 with a 90-75 win over Panathinaikos. This win improved the hosts to 13-10 on the season, while the Greens dropped to 14-9. This victory also gave Maccabi a season-sweep of Panathinaikos, which was without Kostas Sloukas and Luca Vildoza. The final 15-point margin, however, is a product of a strong fourth quarter by Maccabi. The visitors came within 64-62 with just under 8 minutes to go in the game, but Wade Baldwin scored 9 of his game-high 22 points after that as Maccabi pulled away and closed out the game. Baldwin also had 8 assists.
FC Bayern Munich 64-76 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
ASVEL pulled out a convincing road win from the BMW Park when it defeated Bayern 64-76 on Thursday night. Bayern slipped to 9-14, while ASVEL improved to 5-18. Moustapha Fall recorded a monster double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds to pace ASVEL. Paris Lee followed with 21 points and 4 assists, while Edwin Jackson netted 13 and Mbaye Ndiaye provided 11 boards for the winners. Carsen Edwards had 21 points, going for 5-of-7 from the three-point line, and Sylvain Francisco chipped in 11 points in the losing effort.
Real Madrid 90-85 Olympiacos Piraeus
Real Madrid got back to winning ways by defeating Olympiacos in Round 23. The hosts dominated in the first half but saw the Greek side fight back after the break. Yet, Olympiacos didn't manage to turn the game around and Real Madrid improved to 20-3, with the guests dropping to 12-11. Dzanan Musa scored 20 points, Mario Hezonja had 16 and Gabriel Deck added 14, with Facundo Campazzo pairing his 12 points with 9 assists. For Olympiacos, Kostas Papanikolaou netted a game-high 25 points, having gone 6-for-8 from behind the arc. Alec Peters scored 12 and Luke Sikma recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.