There were four road winners from five on Thursday night
Game Center: ASVEL snaps Paris's winning run; Efes, Milan, Zvezda all victorious
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Friday, December 13
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 93-67 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Efes is back to winning ways after running past the visiting reigning champs Panathinaikos 93-67 on Friday night. Efes won the game after losing three out of its last four, while Panathinaikos suffered its second consecutive defeat of 18 or more points. Both teams now have an 8-7 record. It was a game that marked the return of Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman to Istanbul, but also a return from injury by Shane Larkin, who missed the last nine games. Efes used a 14-2 second-quarter run to build a double-digit lead, then a 12-2 third-quarter run to break the 20-point margin and lead by as many as 29 as it cruised to victory. Rodrigue Beaubois finished as the top scorer for Efes with 16 points, while Dan Oturu and Jordan Nwora scored 15 apiece, with Nwora also pulling down 8 rebounds. Kostas Sloukas scored 15, and Cedi Osman had 12 points in defeat.
FC Barcelona 81-94 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Milan remained red-hot in the EuroLeague by topping Barcelona 81-94 at Palau Blaugrana in Round 15 on Friday night. Milan improved to 9-6 in the standings and is on a six-game winning streak, while Barca dropped to 8-7. Zach LeDay paced the winners with a career-high 33 points. Nikola Mirotic added 19 while Shavon Shields had 11 for Milan. Kevin Punter led Barca with 18 points. Justin Anderson added 17 and Jan Vesely had 13 for the hosts.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 87-73 Olympiacos Piraeus
Crvena Zvezda cruised to an impressive 87-73 home win over Olympiacos, improving to 8-7 while the former three-time champions of Europe’s premier club competition dropped to 9-6. A smooth team effort saw five home players finish in double figures, paced by Nemanja Nedovic who bounced back superbly from a sore knee to post a team-high 18 points. Nikola Kalinic chipped in with 16, while Dejan Davidovac, Luka Mitrovic and Codi Miller-McIntyre added 12 each, the latter also dishing out 9 assists in a fine all-round performance. At the other end, Sasha Vezenkov netted a game-high 19 points for Olympiacos and Nikola Milutinov scored 11, but the duo lacked support from the rest of the team as the visitors made a mere 6-of-23 shots from downtown.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 98-93 Paris Basketball
ASVEL ended the 10-game winning run of league leader Paris, taking a thrilling French derby 98-93 in Round 15’s Rivalry Series game at the Astroballe. ASVEL is now 6-9 and has won four straight at home, while Paris remains top of the standings at 11-4. A first half featuring 13 lead changes ended with ASVEL surging into a 49-40 lead. Paris fought back after the break, and it was close until the home team pulled away in the latter stages. Theo Maledon paced ASVEL with 22 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Mbaye Ndiaye added 19 points, Neal Sako scored 14 and Nando De Colo had 12. TJ Shorts was again superb, pairing 29 points with 8 assists, while Nadir Hifi netted 20.
Thursday, December 12
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 69-99 AS Monaco
Monaco grabbed a big road win at the top of the standings by thrashing Fenerbahce. The two teams are now level at 10-5 in a share of second place. Monaco led by 5 at the break before racing to an 18-point lead at the end of the third and the visitors weren’t troubled after that. Monaco’s backcourt stars all stepped up with Mike James pairing 21 points with 5 assists and Elie Okobo scoring 19. Nigel Hayes-Davis paced Fenerbahce with 28 points.
ALBA Berlin 90-91 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Partizan celebrated its fifth successive win and improved to 7-8 after eking out a dramatic 90-91 win at ALBA as Carlik Jones produced another masterclass individual performance. The playmaker led the visiting team’s charge with a game-high 24 points, 6 assists and 5 boards, including a clutch mid-range jumper with 1.7 seconds left on the clock. Big man Tyrique Jones chipped in with 20 points and 7 rebounds. At the other end, David McCormack paced ALBA on 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 81-82 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Will Clyburn converted a four-point play with 1.9 seconds left to give Dusko Ivanovic a triumphant debut as Virtus head coach in an 81-82 road victory over his former club. The game was tight throughout and Virtus never gave up, coming up with the improbable finish in Ivanovic’s first game back at Buesa Arena. Clyburn’s heroics snapped Virtus’ six-game losing streak for a 3-12 record, including 2-5 on the road. Clyburn finished with 23 points and Toko Shengelia had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the winners. Baskonia, which fell to 6-9 record, was led by Nikos Rogkavopoulos with 19 points.
Real Madrid 83-92 Zalgiris Kaunas
Zalgiris snapped a three-game road winning streak by topping Real in the Spanish capital. Zalgiris improved to 8-6 in the standings while Real dropped to 6-9 and is now one a three-game losing streak. Lonnie Walker led the winners with 21 points - all of them in the first half - and Sylvain Francisco added 17. Dzanan Musa paced Real with 15 points in defeat.
FC Bayern Munich 98-93 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Bayern extended its home winning streak at the brand-new SAP Garden to eight games by grabbing a comeback victory over Maccabi. The visitors started strong and led for the first three quarters, but Bayern bounced back in the fourth, outscored Maccabi 31-21 and clinched a hard-fought victory. The German champs improved to 10-5 for a share of second place in the standings, with Maccabi dropping to 4-11. Carsen Edwards paced Bayern with 25 points and Andreas Obst netted 23. For Maccabi, Jaylen Hoard recorded 25 points.