Hear from Georgios Printezis and his Olympiacos BC teammates Vassilis Spanoulis and Kyle Hines, as well as CSKA Moscow center Nenad Krstic, is this third episode of the EuroLeague 25 Moments series.

EuroLeague 25 Moments: Olympiacos and its historic 2012 comeback

Every championship is special, but for [Olympiacos Piraeus](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/olympiacos-piraeus/oly/), nothing can compare with its triumph in Istanbul.

In 2012, the Reds completed an unthinkable comeback from 19 points down to defeat CSKA Moscow 61-62 on a last-second floater by [Georgios Printezis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/georgios-printezis/amm/) in the championship game in the Turkish metropolis.

CSKA was considered the favorite as Olympiacos was the younger team with only one former champion on the roster. But the Reds turned out to be the team of destiny.

Hear from Printezis and his teammates [Vassilis Spanoulis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/vassilis-spanoulis/juo/) and [Kyle Hines](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kyle-hines/002812/), as well as CSKA center [Nenad Krstic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/nenad-krstic/auo/), is this third episode of the EuroLeague 25 Moments series as they break down that special night that launched an Olympiacos dynasty that continued with another crown the following year.

You can also watch [episode one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTOQS-w-PNs&t=86s) and [episode two](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHqpRVU6VVs&t=518s) now.

More Olympiacos News

CSKA Moscow v Olympiacos Piraeus (2012-05-13T18:00:00.000Z)

Fantasy Challenge guru Javier Gancedo shares his recommendations ahead of Rounds 31 and 32 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

EuroLeague Fantasy tips for Rounds 31-32: A critical double-round week

Here it comes! This is the last double-round week of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season and a key one for all [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/) managers. 

Four trades are allowed before each round so keeping an eye on the game during the week will be critical. I am here to help you with some recommendations from pretty much every price range. These are five players I like ahead of Rounds 31 and 32.

### Filip Petrusev, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (11.5 credits)

He should be the most-bought player before Round 31. [Filip Petrusev](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/filip-petrusev/011194/) returns to an injury-plagued Zvezda frontcourt and should have a big role going forward. Over the weekend, Petrusev needed just 23 minutes to get 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks for a PIR of 29 in Adriatic League action. He will see plenty of playing time and it should be a good week for him.

### Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes Istanbul (14.7 credits)

A couple of rounds ago, after a [big road win in Munich](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/larkin-leads-efes-past-bayern-92-97/), [Shane Larkin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/shane-larkin/007200/) said that Efes "basically is in playoff mode". He has the numbers to prove it, too. Larkin has had a PIR of at least 17 in each of the last four rounds, paking at a PIR of 33 against Bayern. [Vincent Poirier](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/vincent-poirier/004887/) might miss the game, which means Larkin should have even more responsibilities on offense.

Rokas Jokubaitis, Walter Tavares, Filip Petrusev, Shane Larkin and Dario Brizuela are featured in this week's article.

EuroLeague Fantasy tips: Rounds 31-32

### Rokas Jokubaitis, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (13.0 credits)

Despite being eliminated and not having a full roster, Maccabi has been playing well lately and with a lot of pride. Maccabi is on a four-game winning streak and several players have stepped up. [Rokas Jokubaitis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/rokas-jokubaitis/007519/) is one of them. He has averaged 19.5 points and 4.5 assists for a PIR of 21.5 since missing three games because of injury. Jokubaitis is a reliable player for the next four games.

### Walter Tavares, Real Madrid (14.9 credits)

[Walter Tavares](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/walter-tavares/005791/) was simply unstoppable in the first 7 minutes of his team's game [against ASVEL](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/tavares-leads-real-past-asvel-81-70/) as he amassed a PIR of 19. Tavares also had a solid game over the weekend with 14 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 24 in Spanish League action. It looks to be only a matter of time before he has another monster performance. If Tavares is healthy and in shape, he is a must in the game.

### Dario Brizuela, FC Barcelona (8.4 credits)

[Dario Brizuela](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/dario-brizuela/009992/) is playing point guard for the first time in his career and the big question is: how come he hasn't before? He is showcasing some of his best basketball with a lot of freedom to create his own shot but also sharing the ball really well. He had a PIR of 21 [against Zalgiris](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/barcelona-wins-third-straight-gets-past-zalgiris-82-70/) with 20 points. All for less than 9.0 credits. Buy him now!

More Fantasy Challenge News

Fantasy Challenge guru Javier Gancedo shares his recommendations for this week

EuroLeague Fantasy tips, Rounds 31-32: A crucial double-round week

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (2025-03-26T19:05:00.000Z)

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade v Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2025-03-26T19:00:00.000Z)

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (2025-03-26T17:30:00.000Z)

Real Madrid v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2025-03-25T19:45:00.000Z)

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade v ALBA Berlin (2025-03-25T19:45:00.000Z)

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Olympiacos Piraeus (2025-03-25T19:45:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona v FC Bayern Munich (2025-03-25T19:30:00.000Z)

AS Monaco v Zalgiris Kaunas (2025-03-25T18:00:00.000Z)

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v Paris Basketball (2025-03-25T17:45:00.000Z)

Only four rounds remain in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season as the end of the road is near and here's a breakdown of how those remaining games could impact the postseason race 

Stats review: The road ahead

Only four rounds remain in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season as the end of the road is near. In Round 30, only two teams - [Crvena Zvezda Meridian Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/crvena-zvezda-meridianbet-belgrade/red/) and [Anadolu Efes Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/anadolu-efes-istanbul/ist/) - secured victories away from their home arenas. With both of those games having a material impact on the playoff picture, it is worth charting the course for the rest of this season’s postseason contenders as the road ahead is more forgiving for some teams than others.

Visiting teams have won only 39% of games this season as road victories remain scarce in some rounds. Looking at the remaining schedules of the teams in and just beyond the playoff picture, only two teams have three road games remaining: [Paris Basketball](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/paris-basketball/prs/) and [Zalgiris Kaunas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/zalgiris-kaunas/zal/).

Paris scored an important win over [EA7 Emporio Armani Milan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/ea7-emporio-armani-milan/mil/) in Round 30 and given the nightmare run that it faces in the coming weeks, that could wind up being its most important win of the season as Paris will play a trio of playoff-quality teams away from adidas Arena before closing the season with a home game against [ALBA Berlin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/alba-berlin/ber/). One of seven teams holding 16 or 17 wins entering the week, there’s a chance it’ll have to win at least one of those three road tests to keep its spot in the Play-In Showdown.

While Paris faces the toughest road to the finish, it is likely that [Real Madrid](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/real-madrid/mad/) will dictate things in the middle of the standings. While *Los Blancos* will play two games in Serbia, all four of their remaining games will be against teams still heavily in the mix for a postseason berth.

[Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/ulk/), Crvena Zvezda, and Efes each have only one road game remaining, but those come against quality opponents that will still likely have a lot to play for down the stretch.

[AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/as-monaco/mco/) may have a vested interest in some of those results as it sits at a key inflection point in the standings holding onto the last spot granting home-court advantage in the quarterfinals. Just one game clear of the four teams with 17 wins, Monaco controls its own destiny, but is also the lone contender that will have to travel to Athens to take on [Olympiacos Piraeus.](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/olympiacos-piraeus/oly/) While Monaco has managed to stay above the fray in recent weeks, it may need to outperform its 6-6 record in 2025 to avoid the teams behind it down the stretch.

Olympiacos, [Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/panathinaikos-aktor-athens/pan/), and [FC Bayern Munich](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fc-bayern-munich/mun/) have been this season’s toughest teams to beat on the road and the ability of the latter two to hold serve in their own arenas down the stretch could give it some margin for error in their two remaining away games.

With very little decided heading into the final weeks of the season, it will be fascinating to see whether home-court advantage shapes the playoff picture or if some team manages to rise above the trends on the road.

Here's a breakdown of how the four remaining games could impact the postseason race 

EuroLeague top photos of the week

Khalifa Diop of Baskonia and Carsen Edwards of Bayern leap for a rebound

Moustapha Fall of Olympiacos emotes as he dunks against Crvena Zvezda

Bruno Fernando of Real Madrid denies ASVEL's Nando De Colo

Dario Brizuela of FC Barcelona dribbles between Zalgiris's Bryant Dunston and Dovydas Giedraitis

Yanni Wetzell of ALBA Berlin dunks at Panathinaikos 

Nikola Milutinov of Olympiacos extends to block the shot of Zvezda's Milos Teodosic

T.J. Shorts of Paris extends to corral a rebound against Milan

Johannes Voigtmann of Bayern and Baskonia's Khalifa Diop vie for a rebound

Wenyen Gabriel of Panathinaikos dunks against ALBA Berlin in Round 30

Darius Thompson of Efes and Partizan's Brandon Davies wrestle for the ball

Look back at all the action from Round 30 of the regular season by checking out the best photos of the week! 

Top 10 photos of the week: Round 30

Euroleague Basketball is now accepting applications for volunteers at the 2025 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

Become a volunteer at the 2025 EuroLeague Final Four!

Have you always wanted to experience a world-class sporting event from the inside? To be behind the scenes and become a part of the spectacle? Here is your chance!

Euroleague Basketball is now accepting applications for volunteers at the 2025 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. There are many positions available for volunteers in a wide array of fields, including Media, Competition, Ceremonies, Corporate Social Responsibility, FanZone and the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague, among others. The full list of functions can be found [here](https://sway.cloud.microsoft/GM0PVtcsro8elSLq).

Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn how to use basketball to achieve social impact in our communities through the One Team program while filling an important role at Europe’s premier basketball event.

To become a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four volunteer, applicants must fill out the following registration form before April 4, 2025.

Don't miss this opportunity to be a part of an amazing experience. Click [here](https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=m52J-WoQQkaxN4bpglT5smgyUhU7GptPvdcqcwf2Am1UQTZPRFNZTDZIUU9PMjlXTkJDRVMzNzNMMyQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl) to apply!

Take advantage of this incredible experience by joining us in Abu Dhabi

A wonderful performance by Paris Basketball star TJ Shorts has seen him take home Round 30 MVP honors.

 

Shorts finished with a 24-point, 10-assist double-double – his fourth double-double of the season – as Paris beat EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 92-79. His 24 points came courtesy of 8-of-15 two-pointers, 1-of-2 threes and 5-of-7 free throws, while he also amassed 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block – his second block this season – and 7 fouls drawn en route to a 37 PIR, the most of any player in this round and his third-highest index rating in the 2024-25 campaign. 

Round 30 MVP: TJ Shorts, Paris Basketball

A wonderful performance by Paris Basketball star [TJ Shorts](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/tj-shorts/012608/) has seen him take home Round 30 MVP honors.

 

Shorts finished with a 24-point, 10-assist double-double – his fourth double-double of the season – as Paris beat EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 92-79. His 24 points came courtesy of 8-of-15 two-pointers, 1-of-2 threes and 5-of-7 free throws, while he also amassed 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block – his second block this season – and 7 fouls drawn en route to a 37 PIR, the most of any player in this round and his third-highest index rating in the 2024-25 campaign. Having previously been the MVP of the Round in Rounds 5 and 10, this is the third occasion that the EuroLeague rookie has secured this honor.

The next-best PIR belonged to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne’s [Theo Maledon](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/theo-maledon/007027/), who had a 35 index rating as his team fell to an 81-70 defeat at Real Madrid. Maledon posted 25 points on 4-of-6 two-pointers, 2-of-4 triples and 11-of-11 free throws, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 8 fouls drawn. With those 11 free throws, Maledon has now set the record for the most free throws made in a single EuroLeague season, having converted 182 in 29 games, beating the 178 made by Real Madrid’s Dzanan Musa in 41 appearances in the 2022-23 season.

Third place is shared by two players this week, as Real Madrid’s [Walter Tavares](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/walter-tavares/005791/) and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade’s [Rokas Giedraitis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/rokas-giedraitis/006436/) both recorded a 28 PIR, a season high in the case of Giedraitis. Tavares amassed 23 points on 9-of-12 twos and 5-of-5 free throws, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls drawn in *Los Blancos’* aforementioned 81-70 victory over ASVEL, while Giedraitis finished with 20 points on 6-of-7 triples and 2-of-2 free throws, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 fouls drawn as Crvena Zvezda stunned league leader Olympiacos Piraeus by stealing a 73-81 win.

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens guard [Jerian Grant](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/jerian-grant/011204/) completes the list of best performers in Round 30 with a PIR of 27, which came in his team’s 91-81 triumph over ALBA Berlin. Grant ended his night with totals of 19 points on 3-of-5 two-pointers, 1-of-2 three-pointers and 10-of-10 free throws, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 7 fouls drawn and zero turnovers.

 

### Individual highs: Will Clyburn, Virtus, 5 steals

 

[Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/) of AS Monaco led all scorers in Round 30 with 29 points. [Kendrick Nunn](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/kendrick-nunn/012774/) of Panathinaikos and [Sasha Vezenkov](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/sasha-vezenkov/003469/) of Olympiacos Piraeus are tied atop the scoring charts with 20.0 points per game.

 

[Ante Zizic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/ante-zizic/004554/) of Virtus Segafredo Bologna had 12 rebounds, more than any other player in this round. Crvena Zvezda center [Joel Bolomboy](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/joel-bolomboy/009035/) remains the league leader with 8.3 rebounds per game.

 

This round’s MVP, Shorts, and [Trent Forrest](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/trent-forrest/013367/) of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz both dished a round-high 10 assists. Shorts is the new assists leader with 7.1 dimes per game.

 

Virtus forward [Will Clyburn](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/will-clyburn/004888/) led all players with 5 steals in Round 30. [Nick Weiler-Babb](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/nick-weiler-babb/010391/) of FC Bayern Munich leads the way in steals with 1.6 per game.

 

[Wenyen Gabriel](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/wenyen-gabriel/013383/) of Panathinaikos had 4 blocks, the most in this round. Tavares (1.37 bpg.) is the competition's top shot blocker, enjoying a small lead over [Georgios Papagiannis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/georgios-papagiannis/005844/) of Monaco (1.36 bpg.).

 

Five players had double-doubles in Round 30: Shorts (24 points, 10 assists), Forrest (14 points, 10 assists), Zizic (11 points, 12 rebounds), Crvena Zvezda’s [Codi Miller-McIntyre](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/codi-miller-mcintyre/009048/) (15 points, 11 rebounds), and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv’s [Trevion Williams](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/trevion-williams/012604/) (10 points, 10 rebounds).

This is the third time the EuroLeague rookie has been the MVP of the Round

EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge Round 30 winner

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 30th winner in this season's [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/)! Kwstas Hasiotis beat everyone else in Round 30 with his team 'KOB BC RISKY', which had a Fantasy Challenge score of 223.60.

The winning team had the following starting lineup: Paris Basketball's TJ Shorts as team captain, then Roman Sorkin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, Donta Hall of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, and FC Barcelona duo of Chimezie Metu and Dario Brizuela. His sixth man was FC Bayern Munich's Johannes Voigtmann. The rest of the bench consisted of Paris Basketball's Yakuba Ouattara, Shavon Shields of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Jerian Grant of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Barcelona's Justin Anderson. His team's head coach was Tiago Splitter of Paris.

The prize for finishing first in Round 30 is a free VIP Euroleague TV subscription for the 2025-26 season!

Marko Djukic and his team 'Kughat' remains the leader of the [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/) overall standings with 5,081.34 points.

Trades are now open for Round 31. Remember, four trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season. You can either trade up to four players, or a head coach and three players.

The first game in Round 31 tips off already on Tuesday, March 25, as Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul hosts Paris Basketball at 18:45 CET. That game marks the next round's deadline.

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become our next round winner!

EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge offers weekly prizes to the top team manager. 

Anadolu Efes recorded its fourth win in a row in the EuroLeague by demolishing KK Partizan 65-97 in Round 30, a victory that has seen Luca Banchi's men move into the postseason places.

Efes rolls on under Luca Banchi and gets into postseason picture

[Anadolu Efes Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/anadolu-efes-istanbul/ist/) showed in no uncertain terms that it means business in the home straight of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague regular season, romping away to [a 65-97 road demolition of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/dominant-efes-blows-away-partizan-65-97/) to squeeze into the top 10.

The result allowed Efes to climb three places up to ninth on a 16-14 record, while it also relegated Partizan to 12th at 15-15 after a third successive loss and the heaviest on its home court in the Serbian club’s EuroLeague history.

Efes, which looked unlikely to feature in the business end of Europe’s premier club competition before the February break, continued to thrive under Italian head coach [Luca Banchi](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/anadolu-efes-istanbul/ist/banchi-luca/?season=E2024) after the 59-year-old had endured a patchy start in Istanbul.

Glimpses of the Turkish side’s vast potential were made obvious by [the 110-66 home destruction of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/coach-banchi-celebrates-first-win-as-efes-thrashes-milan-110-66/), Banchi’s first win after opening with three defeats at the helm. Now that Efes has hit top gear, few would bet against the back-to-back EuroLeague winners in 2021 and 2022 making the playoffs this term.

Against Partizan, a pack of five players finished in double digits paced by [Darius Thompson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/darius-thompson/011078/), who sank 19 points after scoring his team’s opening eight and then poured 11 in the third quarter to effectively seal the game as a contest in front of 20,000 home fans.

Thompson personified the visiting team’s razor-sharp offense as he shot 5 of 5 from downtown and 2 of 3 from inside, although it was the ironclad defense which initially did the damage as Efes pulled away from 16-16 early in the game to a 37-69 lead late in the third quarter.    

“The end of the season is near and we are trying to get a playoff spot, so we’ve got to fight in every game and today we played well as a team,” Thompson said in his postgame comments. “We knew this was a hard place to play at so we just wanted to stay together and fight for every possession.”

Having expressed hope that [Rodrigue Beaubois](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/rodrigue-beaubois/006590/) and [Dan Oturu](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dan-oturu/012788/) would recover swiftly from knocks and bruises they picked up in the grueling matchup, Banchi stressed it was all about staying consistent in the home stretch of the regular season.

“We are happy with the performance and for showing such character against a team like Partizan,” he said. “I am very proud but also a bit worried about the injuries we picked up. We wanted to have an intense game and the players responded well.

“We prepared and approached the game very well and were able to stay consistent throughout the 40 minutes. We built this win on solid defense and it was a promising performance which should help us push on through a very tough schedule in the final stage of the regular season.”

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">💪 “Play hard, play simple, play together!”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhereIStand?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhereIStand</a> <a href="https://t.co/2d9oRAqp31">pic.twitter.com/2d9oRAqp31</a></p>&mdash; Anadolu Efes SK (@AnadoluEfesSK) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnadoluEfesSK/status/1903205988355756497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Partizan head coach [Zeljko Obradovic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade/par/obradovic-zeljko/?season=E2024) cut a dejected figure at a loss of words to explain the horror show his players served up in a crunch game, when a win was so desperately needed to keep the club’s postseason ambitions on track.

“I take responsibility as the head coach and we must now turn our attention to the upcoming games,” Obradovic told the postgame press conference. “I’ve never been a defeatist in my entire career but this was a completely substandard performance which came in the midst of a tough stretch in all competitions.

“Credit to Efes as it’s a great team with one of the best rosters in the EuroLeague, while we committed an avalanche of mistakes. I can’t remember a performance worse than this one.”

Partizan will have a chance to make amends when it hosts the competition’s bottom team, ALBA Berlin, in Round 31 while Efes is looking forward to a home game against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in its bid to keep up the good work.

Game News

The Turkish side stretched its fine run of form to five wins out of six with a magnificent display against Partizan

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade v Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2025-03-21T19:45:00.000Z)

Thanks in large part to Dario Brizuela and Justin Anderson, two players who have become irreplaceable for FC Barcelona, the Spanish club now sits in fifth place in the EuroLeague standings.

Barcelona 'trending in the right direction', climbing the standings after Zalgiris win

[FC Barcelona](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fc-barcelona/bar/) had to fight hard on Friday night but it controlled everything on the floor in the last three quarters [to beat Zalgiris Kaunas 82-70](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/barcelona-wins-third-straight-gets-past-zalgiris-82-70/). 

Neither team had good shooting percentages and Barcelona, a team that came into the game as the best scoring team in the league with 87.6 points per game, did not score more than 23 points in any quarter.

“It’s two teams fighting in March, it’s not going to be easy,” Barcelona forward [Justin Anderson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/justin-anderson/012795/) said during a courtside interview with EuroLeague TV after the game.

But once Barcelona took the lead thanks to a 9-0 run bridging the first and second quarters, it never relinquished it.

“It’s four weeks to go and every game needs to be played 100% physical and 100% mental,” commented coach [Joan Penarroya](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fc-barcelona/bar/penarroya-joan/) after the big win. “I think we deserved the win tonight.”

And while Penarroya, like most of his colleagues, does not want to comment on his team’s playoff chance, it is a fact that with four games to go in the regular season, this win catapulted Barcelona into fifth place in the standings.

Admittedly, it’s a four-team tie at 17-13 record, which means Barcelona has the same number of wins as its next opponent, eighth-placed [FC Bayern Munich](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fc-bayern-munich/mun/). But it is also just a win away from fourth place.

“What’s the most important is our next game here at home. Nothing else matters,” Anderson added. “One game at the time. And this team is trending in the right direction.”

With three wins in a row and a 3-1 record after the February break, Barcelona certainly seems to be where it wants to be. [Kevin Punter](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kevin-punter/009862/), [Jabari Parker](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/jabari-parker/012745/), [Chimezie Metu](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/chimezie-metu/013379/) and [Tomas Satoransky](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/tomas-satoransky/002939/) are carrying the biggest load, expectedly, but [Dario Brizuela](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dario-brizuela/009992/) and Anderson have become irreplaceable pieces.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="cs" dir="ltr">M𝐁P (Mamba Brizuela Player) <a href="https://t.co/qbnoaBNGjB">pic.twitter.com/qbnoaBNGjB</a></p>&mdash; Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1903203428177711284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Brizuela led Barca with 20 points, scoring eight in the final quarter, as the hosts never allowed Zalgiris to get closer than six points.

“I am just happy to help my team in the situation we are missing players,” Brizuela commented modestly after the win.

Meanwhile, Anderson played more than 30 minutes for just the second time this season, his first in the EuroLeague, and was his team’s second-best scorer on the night with 16 points.

Despite the season-ending injuries to [Nico Laprovittola](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/nicolas-laprovittola/006435/) and [Juan Nunez](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/juan-nunez/010106/), and the extended absence of [Jan Vesely](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/jan-vesely/000925/), it feels as though Barcelona is exactly where it wanted to be all along. And it keeps playing winning basketball in the month of March.

Thanks to its Round 30 victory, the Blaugrana are now in fifth place

Barcelona 'trending in the right direction', climbing the standings

FC Barcelona v Zalgiris Kaunas (2025-03-21T19:30:00.000Z)