There were seven home winners across Tuesday and Wednesday's games
Game Center: Olympiacos, Partizan win on the road; Monaco, Barcelona triumph at home
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Wednesday, February 5
AS Monaco 92-85 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
On the night that saw Mike James reach 5,000 career points, Monaco notched its third straight win in the EuroLeague by beating Baskonia 92-85. Despite leading by as many as 16 points at halftime, Baskonia turned the game around and led 79-80 with 4:11 minutes left, but a strong finish by Monaco – led by Mike James and Nick Calathes – allowed the Monegasque side to grab the win. Monaco is now 16-9 while Baskonia drops to 10-15. Mike James led all scorers in the game with 19 points.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna 71-81 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Partizan delivered a resurgent performance to overpower Virtus on the road, 71-81, improving its EuroLeague record to 13-12 after last week’s painful 71-73 home loss to archrival Crvena Zvezda. Virtus dropped to 7-18 as its slim hopes of reaching the business end of the competition took another blow in a bruising matchup, where the road fans roared Partizan to victory as the visitors rallied from a 23-17 first-quarter deficit. Sterling Brown paced Partizan on 20 points and livewire playmaker Carlik Jones scored 19. Tyrique Jones posted 12 points and as many rebounds while fellow big man Brandon Davies chipped in with 11, as the twin towers provided power in the paint. Tornike Shengelia led Virtus on 16 points and Isaia Cordinier added 13, but the support cast fell short.
Paris Basketball 73-90 Olympiacos Piraeus
EuroLeague leader Olympiacos thrashed Paris 73-90 on Wednesday night at Adidas Arena. The visitors led throughout the game and absorbed Paris’s comeback attempt in the fourth quarter to claim the tiebreaker advantage. With this win, Olympiacos improved to 18-7, while Paris dropped to 14-10. January MVP Sasha Vezenkov led all scorers with 23 points, 17 of which were scored in the first quarter. Evan Fournier followed with 18 points and Nigel Williams-Goss netted 14, with Giannoulis Larentzakis and Nikola Milutinov adding 10 each off the bench. Nadir Hifi paced Paris with 19 points, TJ Shorts recorded 15, Kevarrius Hayes had 11 and Tyson Ward scored 10.
FC Barcelona 100-71 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Barcelona returned to winning ways by thrashing Maccabi 100-71 at Palau Blaugrana in Round 25 on Wednesday. Barca improved to 14-11 in the standings while Maccabi dropped to 6-19 with its sixth road loss in a row. Kevin Punter led the winners with a season-high 28 points. Jabari Parker and Willy Hernangomez each added 14, while Dario Brizuela and Chimezie Metu scored 11 apiece for Barca. Jasiel Rivero paced Maccabi with 16 points, Rokas Jokubaitis added 14 and Roman Sorkin 12.
Tuesday, February 4
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 79-73 Real Madrid
Efes Istanbul its second consecutive home victory by downing Real Madrid at Basketball Development Center. Efes improved to 12-13 in the standings and took a 2-0 record on the season against Real, which dropped to 13-12. Elijah Bryant led the winners with 21 points and Vincent Poirier added 15 plus 8 rebounds. Mario Hezonja paced Real with 18 points.
Zalgiris Kaunas 73-53 ALBA Berlin
Kaunas ended its three-game losing slide by thrashing ALBA Zalgirio Arena. The hosts led from start to finish, grabbing a well-earned victory thanks to a solid defensive display throughout the game. Zalgiris improved its record to 12-13, with last-placed ALBA falling to 4-21. Ignas Brazdeikis led all scorers with a season-high 21 points and Edgaras Ulanovas netted 10. For ALBA, Matteo Spagnolo, Matt Thomas and Yanni Wetzell scored 10 points each, with the latter completing a double-double by collecting 10 rebounds.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 73-66 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Crvena Zvezda built on last Friday’s Belgrade derby win by downing ASVEL 73-66 on Tuesday night. Ioannis Sfairopoulis’s team is now 15-10 and remains in the top six, while Pierric Poupet’s squad dropped to 11-14. Should it come down to it, Zvezda now has the tiebreaker after winning by seven points, having lost by three (77-74) in Lyon earlier this season. Isaiah Canaan led Zvezda in scoring with 11 points, followed by Codi Miller-McIntyre and Nikola Kalinic with 10 apiece. Center Joel Bolomboy had 7 points and 10 rebounds. For ASVEL, Theo Maledon netted 13 points and Ben Bentil added 12.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 91-90 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Panathinaikos claimed a thrilling home win over Fenerbahce to improve to 15-10, while the visitors slipped to 16-8. Kostas Sloukas paced the Greens with 23 and Kendrick Nunn chipped in with 17 points and 7 assists. At the other end, Nigel Hayes-Davis led Fenerbahce on 21 points but the visiting team’s hero turned villain in the last few moments of the game, when he missed a three-pointer and then fouled Nunn at the halfway line with 1.1 seconds remaining and put him on the foul line, with the game tied 90-90.
FC Bayern Munich 87-70 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Bayern recorded its third consecutive win by downing Milan at SAP Garden. Bayern improved to 15-10 in the standings while Milan dropped to 13-12. Vladinir Lucic led the winners with 16 points. Niels Giffey added 16 and Johannes Voigtmann 13. Zach LeDay paced Milan with 17 points.