Round 13 brought a lot of great individual performances and players who stepped up big. Mike James, Shane Larkin, Luka Mitrovic, Codi Miller-McIntyre, Mario Hezonja and Boubacar Toure were the leaders in the main statistical categories.

Round 13 individual highs: Luka Mitrovic, Crvena Zvezda, 16 rebounds

[Points](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/stats/expanded/?size=25&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=E2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=score)

Round 13 MVP [Shane Larkin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/shane-larkin/007200/) of Anadolu Efes Istanbul led all scorers with 32 points in Round 13. [Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/) of AS Monaco is the EuroLeague’s top scorer this season with 19.1 points per game.

[Rebounds](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/stats/expanded/?size=25&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=E2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=totalRebounds)

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade big man [Luka Mitrovic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/luka-mitrovic/002553/) grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, more than any other player in this round. Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz forward [Tadas Sedekerskis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/tadas-sedekerskis/007230/) averages a league-high 8.4 rebounds per night.

[Assists](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/stats/expanded/?size=25&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=E2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=assistances)

Baskonia playmaker [Codi Miller-McIntyre](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/codi-miller-mcintyre/009048/) dished 12 assists, the most in Round 13. Real Madrid's [Facundo Campazzo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/facundo-campazzo/005928/) leads the league for assists, averaging 8.2 per contest.

[Steals](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/stats/expanded/?size=25&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=E2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=steals)

[Mario Hezonja](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mario-hezonja/003108/) of Real Madrid and Monaco's James each had 4 steals in this round. [Paris Lee](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/paris-lee/011225/) of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne remains atop the steals charts with 2.2 per game this season.

[Blocks](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/stats/expanded/?size=25&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=E2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=blocksFavour)

Valencia Basket center [Boubacar Toure](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/boubacar-toure/012739/) led all players in Round 13 with 4 blocks. Real center [Vincent Poirier](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/vincent-poirier/004887/) leads the league with 1.7 blocks per game.

[Double-doubles](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/stats/expanded/?size=25&viewType=miscellaneous&seasonCode=E2023&statisticMode=accumulated&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=doubleDoubles)

The only player with a double-double in Round 13 was [Rolands Smits](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/rolands-smits/007109/) of Zalgiris Kaunas, who paired 13 points with 11 rebounds.

Round 13 brought a lot of great individual performances and players who stepped up big. These were the leaders in the main statistical categories.

A memorable performance by Shane Larkin led Anadolu Efes Istanbul to an 89-97 road win over ALBA Berlin in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, earning him MVP of the Round honors for the 16th time in his career.

Round 13 MVP: Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes Istanbul

A memorable performance by Shane Larkin led Anadolu Efes Istanbul to an 89-97 road win over ALBA Berlin in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, earning him MVP of the Round honors for the 16th time in his career.

 

Larkin finished the game with a PIR of 41, the highest so far this season. He scored 11 of his season-high 32 points in the final quarter, helping Efes rally to a win. Larkin finished the game making 4-of-5 two-pointers, 5-of-9 threes and all 9 of his free throws. He also contributed to the win with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, while drawing 9 personal fouls. Larkin's 16 MVP of the Round honors match Nando De Colo for the most ever.

Shane Larkin | RS Round 13 MVP | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

On the opposite side of that win was ALBA center Johannes Thiemann, who finished the game with a career-high performance index rating of 40. It was the first game in EuroLeague history that has seen two players have a PIR of at least 40. Thiemann scored 31 points and also recorded 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls drawn.

 

The next best PIR, 34, belongs to Tornike Shengelia of Virtus Segafredo Bologna. In a 100-90 win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, Shengelia posted 27 points and 8 rebounds. Maccabi's Lorenzo Brown finished that game with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 32. Rounding out the list of Round 13's top performers are Mike James of AS Monaco and Willy Hernangomez of FC Barcelona, each of whom had a 26 PIR. James posted 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals in a 79-83 win at Zalgiris Kaunas, while Hernangomez had 21 points and 9 rebounds in an 89-81 win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge Round 13 winner

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 13th winner in the [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/home)! Dimitris Aivasiliotis beat everyone else in Round 13 with his team Agios Ioannis o Theologos, which had a Fantasy Challenge score of 286.75.

Dimitris had the following lineup: team captain Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Johannes Thiemann of ALBA Berlin, Tornike Shengelia of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Konstantinos Mitoglou of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Mario Hezonja of Real Madrid as starters.

His sixth man was Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, while the rest of the bench was made up of Valencia Basket's Josep Puerto, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz's Tadas Sedekerskis, Youssoupha Fall of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and Giannoulis Larentzakis of Olympiacos Piraeus. His head coach was Zeljko Obradovic of Partizan.

The prize for finishing first in Round 13 is a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2024-25 season, so congratulations, Dimitris!

Ilias T remains the leader of the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge overall standings with 2,396.06 points.

Trades are now open for Round 14. Remember, unlimited trades are allowed between Rounds 13 and 14, so make the most out of this opportunity!

The first game in Round 14, Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Partizan, tips off on Thursday, December 14, at 19:00 CET. This contest marks the deadline to get trades done, so don’t leave it too late!

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become our next round winner in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge!

Weekly prizes are on offer for the top team manager in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge, so don't miss out!

AS Monaco Basket grabbed a 79-83 win at Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 13 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season, just a few days after suffering a heartbreaking overtime defeat at KK Partizan.

Monaco Basket showed character and fight in a bounce-back win at Zalgiris Kaunas

Travelling for two road games on a double-round week is arguably the toughest part of every team's schedule. The task gets even tougher when the team is emotionally affected after losing the first of those two games in overtime.

That was the case with AS Monaco on Friday, which had [an overtime loss against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-kk-partizan-vs-as-monaco-basket/) on Tuesday before [traveling to Kaunas to face Zalgiris](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-zalgiris-kaunas-vs-as-monaco-basket/), a team in a dire need of a win.

Zalgiris recorded a season low of just 62 in a loss at ALBA, with Dovydas Giedraitis shining as the only bright spot in an otherwise disappointing display. They host Monaco, who strive to remedy an unfortunate evening at Partizan, despite 23 points on 9-of-11 field goal shooting from Donatas Motiejunas.

Zalgiris Kaunas-AS Monaco | Round 13 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### Overcoming a surge from Zalgiris

Then, Monaco took it a step further, squandering its 10-point second-quarter lead and finding itself down 59-54 late in the third quarter, with Zalgiris surging and a sellout Zalgirio Arena crowd cheering on.

"We had energy problems, especially at the beginning of the third quarter when we needed to set the tone for the game," Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic pointed out.

However, Monaco found a way to stop the surge, making stops, scoring important buckets and escaping with a 79-83 win.

"With great character in the fourth quarter, we fought back and found the ways \[to win\]," Obradovic added.

<center>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">⏰️ Un money time de patron des <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RocaBoys?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RocaBoys</a>, pour ramener un succès important 🆚️ <a href="https://twitter.com/bczalgiris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bczalgiris</a> ♨️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RocaTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RocaTeam</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EveryGameMatters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EveryGameMatters</a> <a href="https://t.co/sXzyNpVirc">pic.twitter.com/sXzyNpVirc</a></p>&mdash; AS Monaco Basket 🇲🇨 (@ASMonaco_Basket) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASMonaco_Basket/status/1733234275904831643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### Mike James and others got Monaco over the line

"It took heart. A lot of heart, a lot of hustle. We just fought tonight," Monaco's star guard, Mike James, briefly explained. James finished with 25 points and made some key buckets, together with Petr Cornelie, Alpha Diallo and Elie Okobo.

"We have a lot of veterans who've been through the wars, we relied on those guys to get us through it," Jaron Blossomgame noted after the win. He finished with 13 points, including a triple that made it 68-74 with 2 minutes to go.

A joint effort got Monaco over a tough hurdle as it improved to an 8-5 record and a share of fourth place in the standings.

"You've got to get wins on the road somewhere, and we got one tonight," James concluded.

More Monaco News

Kemba Walker of AS Monaco has possession against Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

After losing in overtime just a couple of days before, Sasa Obradovic's men found a way to get the victory over the line in Round 13.

Monaco showed character and fight in a bounce-back win at Zalgiris

Zalgiris Kaunas v AS Monaco (2023-12-08T18:00:00.000Z)

On a night that saw KK Crvena zvezda forward Luka Mitrovic tie the second-highest offensive rebound tally in a EuroLeague game, Saski Baskonia secured an 87-85 win thanks to its better three-point shooting.

Sharpshooting Saski Baskonia wrecked Luka Mitrovic’s historic night

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz celebrated [a dramatic 87-85 home win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-saski-baskonia-vs-kk-crvena-zvezda/) on the back of effervescent long-range shooting, which bleached out a valiant effort from the visiting team’s big man, Luka Mitrovic.

The hosts shot 17-of-36 from downtown to subdue Zvezda, which nearly forced a dramatic late twist when Rokas Giedraitis saw his tough three-point shot trickle out of the rim with 6 seconds left.

Giedraitis produced his best performance in a Zvezda jersey since he joined the club from Baskonia during the off-season, nailing a game-high 24 points to go with 6 boards, but the plaudits as far the visiting team goes belonged to Mitrovic, who racked up 8 points and 16 rebounds.

### A historic feat for Luka Mitrovic

No fewer than 11 of those boards were on the offensive end, tying the second-highest offensive rebound tally in more than 5,000 EL games this century. The only player ahead of Mitrovic in that department is fellow Serbian Nikola Milutinov, who grabbed a staggering 16 in a single game during the 2020-21 season in Europe’s premier club basketball competition.

Never a prolific scorer but always a menacing presence in the paint at both ends of the floor throughout his career, Mitrovic again worked tirelessly all night, but his effort was left unrewarded as Zvezda once again fell short in the home straight.

It's a swift reunion for Zvezda with former coach Dusko Ivanovic, whose transformation of Baskonia's fortunes continued with an 80-79 nail-biter over Fenerbahce. The Serbians endured hard-fought loss at Valencia and may rely on big men Joel Bolomboy and Luka Mitrovic to establish an inside presence.

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz-Crvena Zvezda Meridanbet Belgrade | Round 13 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### Three-pointers made the difference

The visitors played catch-up all night but, in the end, the hosts’ superior long-rage firepower dashed their hopes of earning the first road win of the season, as Sedekerskis, Markus Howard and Nikos Rogkavopoulos combined for 12-of-16 from beyond the three-point arc.

Player of the game Sedekerskis scored a career-high 18 point to go with

8 rebounds, while the current Baskonia team captain made sure to heap praise on his Lithuanian compatriot and former Baskonia team captain Giedraitis after the game.

“We couldn’t stop Rokas today. He came back home, he spent three amazing seasons at Baskonia and scored 24 points against us,” Sedekerskis said in a flash post-game interview, before joking: “I’ll have to have a serious talk with him.”

<center>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">👏👏 ¡Cómo nos hacéis DISFRUTAR! 🔝🔝<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoazenBaskonia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoazenBaskonia</a> <a href="https://t.co/fT56VwjhqT">pic.twitter.com/fT56VwjhqT</a></p>&mdash; Baskonia (@Baskonia) <a href="https://twitter.com/Baskonia/status/1733249791293853718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### Two teams going in different directions

The outcome delighted Baskonia head coach Dusko Ivanovic, who took over at the club for a fourth stint in charge earlier this season shortly after he was sacked by Zvezda following a 1-3 start in the EuroLeague.

Ivanovic, who had won three Spanish league titles with Baskonia in as many previous spells in charge, proved again that he and the club were a match made in heaven as he quickly steadied the ship after taking over from Joan Penarroya.

Ivanovic has now engineered a 7-1 run that has improved Baskonia’s record to 8-5, while Zvezda dropped to 4-9 in yet another disappointing week for head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos, who took over from Ivanovic.

Sfairopoulos is now 3-6 with Zvezda following Wednesday’s 85-81 reverse at Valencia Basket, with that defeat being literally a carbon copy of the one at Baskonia as Zvezda tied the game in the final minute but failed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

“Both teams demonstrated quality,” Ivanovic said “We kept fighting to stay ahead, but Zvezda have a lot of talent and many options in the big guys and shooters. We were lucky tonight as we’d have lost the game if Rokas had made the last shot.”

Sfairopoulos lamented another missed opportunity; “We made a great effort in the second half, we came back twice, but once again small details decided the winner.”

More Baskonia News

Luka Mitrovic dunks for Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The Zvezda big man's historic night on the offensive glass at Buesa Arena was overshadowed by the hosts' lethal long-range artillery.

Sharpshooting Baskonia wrecked Luka Mitrovic’s historic night

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (2023-12-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Olympiacos avoided its first three-game losing streak in almost two years, and you could hear the sigh of relief all the way from the ancient Port of Piraeus.

Reds righted their ship early against feisty Bayern

What started as a rousing renunciation of mediocrity took on an odd patina Olympiacos Piraeus finally shook off undermanned but determined FC Bayern Munich to take [a much-needed 77-69 victory](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/olympiacos-piraeus-fc-bayern-munich/E2023/112/#boxscore) at home in Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday.

The courtside comments of the winners said it all.

"It wasn't our best performance," said [Thomas Walkup](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/thomas-walkup/008855/), the best performer for the Reds.

"We got a little bit complacent," his partner [Alec Peters](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/alec-peters/008829/) added.

"It was a very strange game," their head coach, Georgios Bartzokas, would say.

The Reds came into Friday with a 6-6 record, huddled in the middle of the standings after never dropping lower than sixth all last season. It was the first time that their record had been even or worse since October of 2020, when they were 3-3 before going on a four-win streak. Since then they had enjoyed winning records consistently, until losing at home to Real Madrid on Tuesday, that one coming on the heels of a road defeat at AS Monaco in Round 11.

Worse still, the loss to Real gave Olympiacos a 4-3 home record and Bayern was arriving on a three-game winning streak. However, the visitors announced right before the game that star center Serge Ibaka would not play, news that seemed to deflate Bayern and boost the hosts. Olympiacos blasted off to a 13-2 lead before 5 minutes had elapsed, almost doubled that to 39-18 late in the second quarter, and sustained double-digit leads for what seemed like forever.

Game News

However, the Reds could not completely shake Bayern, whose bench players decided that it was their opportunity to do something special, and would outscore the starters 43-26 in trying to prove it. A couple of them – Ivan Kharchenkov and Nelson Weidemann – were so new to the task that neither had even been to the free throw line in a EuroLeague game before Friday.

But despite trailing by 21 in that second quarter, the visitors actually won it 17-21. Then they won the third quarter by 2 points, and soon they were taking the fourth, too. A lead that had persistently hovered above 10 points suddenly dropped to just six. Bayern's Elias Harris, who hadn't played in more than a month due to injury, scored 6 points in 35 seconds to make it 75-69 with 37 seconds remaining, leaving the denizens of Peace and Friendship a tad nervous.

Alas, Bayern missed a layup when it could no longer afford to and Walkup solved things at the free throw line. And after such an unusual game, it was the winners who were talking silver linings.

"We got ourselves out to a wonderful lead, and then we dropped some, but I will never complain about a win in the EuroLeague, especially with the standings being so tight," Walkup said..

"We were ready to finish the game early, but Bayern scored 12 or 15 points at the end of the shot clock," Bartzokas noted. "We finally won with a kind of reasonable difference, but there is no easy game in the EuroLeague."

"It's great to win a game in the EuroLeague at all, especially at home," Peters concluded. "We'll take it, but there's a lot to learn from it."

More Olympiacos Piraeus news

Olympiacos avoided its first three-game losing streak in almost two years, and you could hear the sigh of relief all the way from the ancient Port of Piraeus.



Olympiacos Piraeus v FC Bayern Munich (2023-12-08T19:15:00.000Z)

Valencia Basket allowed just 22 second-half points as it blew out LDLC ASVEL 55-78 in Round 13 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season on Friday night. 

Valencia Basket impressed on defense in a big road win at LDLC ASVEL

Valencia Basket returned to winning ways in style in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season. In particular, its defense stood out.

Valencia allowed just 22 second-half points as [it blew out LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 55-78](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-ldlc-asvel-vs-valencia-basket/) on Friday night. After suffering five successive defeats coming into this week, [Alex Mumbru's squad beat Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 85-81](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-valencia-basket-vs-kk-crvena-zvezda/) before using Friday's performance to complete a perfect double-round week and get back to a winning record, 7-6.

"Coach \[Mumbru\] got us in the right mindset," Semi Ojeleye, Valencia's leading scorer with 16 points, said after the game.

"He told us to believe in each other, that we are the same team that won those games at the beginning \[of the season\]."

Gianmarco Pozzecco hope the experience of former Valencia star Nando De Colo can help drag ASVEL from the foot of the standings, whereas the guests showed resilience to overcome Zvezda's comeback attempt and are expected to be led by Chris Jones, who confronts his former employers.

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne-Valencia Basket | Round 13 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### A strong start followed by a slide

Valencia began the EuroLeague season with five wins in the first six games and was allowing just 70.8 points per night. Since then, Valencia's average of points allowed went up to 77.3, mostly because Valencia gave up more than 80 points in each of the last three games, including 90 or more twice.

On Friday night, Valencia held its opponent below 60 points for the first time since March 2021. And for the first time in a road game since February 2020.

"We played great defense in the second half," commented Coach Mumbru. "\[For\] 7 or 8 minutes, we played great defense."

And while the visitors' defense seemed solid throughout the game, Mumbru was referring to the period that started midway through the third quarter, when ASVEL was up 41-39, to the 5:15 mark of the fourth, when Valencia had a 45-62 lead.

During that 4-23 spurt, which included a 0-14 run to end the third quarter, ASVEL was limited to no field goals and just 4 free throws.

ASVEL woke up in the fourth quarter, cutting the gap to 9 points, 55-64, but Valencia ended the game with a 0-14 run.

When all was said and done, ASVEL was left with 18 turnovers and 39 missed shots on 60 field-goal attempts, including just 4-for-25 from three-point range.

<center>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">Se celebra con la Familia Taronja, como toca 🧡<br><br>🏆 J13 <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EuroLeague</a><a href="https://twitter.com/LDLCASVEL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LDLCASVEL</a> 55<br>🆚 <a href="https://twitter.com/valenciabasket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@valenciabasket</a> 78<br>🤝 <a href="https://twitter.com/bthetravelbrand?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bthetravelbrand</a> <a href="https://t.co/7RFEQtB283">pic.twitter.com/7RFEQtB283</a></p>&mdash; Valencia Basket Club (@valenciabasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/valenciabasket/status/1733244809731547480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### A night of differing emotions

Even the usually upbeat ASVEL head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco could not find a positive after seeing what Valencia has done to his offense, which had scored 90 or more points in each of the last three games.

"It's the first day since I am here that we had a bad loss," said Pozzecco.

On the other side of the equation, maybe the win was not the prettiest, but the Valencia players did not care.

"It is a beautiful \[win\] for us — they scored \[just\] 55 points," Damien Inglis pointed out. "We are a good defense team, and today we just showed it."

Leaning on its defense is certainly the way Valencia plans to move forward, but everything now looks brighter with a 7-6 record.

More Valencia News

Boubacar Toure of Valencia Basket, who had 4 blocks, goes against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne's Joffrey Lauvergne.

Between the midway point of the third quarter and halfway through the fourth, the visitors took over.

Valencia impressed on defense in a big road win at ASVEL

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Valencia Basket (2023-12-08T20:00:00.000Z)

Barça Basket trailed by 12 points, 38-50, at halftime of its Round 13 game against Fenerbahçe in the 2023-24 EuroLeague season, before coming away with an 89-81 win after the break.

Second-half defense sparked Barça Basket comeback against Fenerbahce Beko

There were not many smiles in the stands when [the halftime buzzer sounded at Palau Blaugrana](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-barca-basket-vs-fenerbahce-beko/) on Friday night. In fact, the only happy faces were of those fans who were there in support of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, not Roger Grimau’s FC Barcelona.

Scottie Wilbekin had just nailed a buzzer-beating floater to make it 38-50 for the visitors, who struggled in the opening stages but looked comfortable on offense in the second quarter. Barcelona boasted the fourth-best defense in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with 77.3 points allowed per game heading into Friday’s clash, but they had already conceded 50 after 20 minutes.

Fenerbahce point guard Nick Calathes reunites with his old team and his battle with Tomas Satoransky for control could prove pivotal for the outcome. Barcelona has sights on protecting its perfect home record, while the Turks have lost five on their travels in succession, but will this play to form?

FC Barcelona-Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | Round 13 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### Barcelona went to another level on defense

Big changes were needed in the second half and this is exactly what Coach Grimau must have transmitted to his players at the break, because Barca hit the ground running in the third quarter.

The hosts outscored Fenerbahce 25-14 to bring the game within 63-64 heading into the final period, with their defense being totally dominant and nullifying Fenerbahce’s offensive weapons en route to an eventual 89-81 win. For instance, Wilbekin and Dorsey netted a combined 16 points in the first half, but they managed just 7 after the break.

“We defended very close to the excellent \[in the second half\],” Grimau said after the game. “We defended on their shooters, we controlled the rebounds and after that we could be more dynamic on offense. The game was really ugly at halftime and I’m really happy we won this game.”

The two teams may have recorded a similar figure on turnovers (9-10), but it was the deflections on defense along with the energy and the way Barcelona players put their bodies on the line in the second half that allowed it to complete the comeback.

“In the second half the game became more difficult, unfortunately,” Fenerbahce head coach Dimitris Itoudis noted. “They pushed us out with their aggressiveness full court, took many seconds out of our creativity and forced us to take bad shots in the last seconds.”

<center>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr">🍍 <a href="https://t.co/nEGMFDNqQH">pic.twitter.com/nEGMFDNqQH</a></p>&mdash; Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1733252985197568058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### Fenerbahce couldn’t deal with Willy Hernangomez

Willy Hernangomez had an MVP sort of night off the bench, allowing the hosts to win the battle in the paint. His 21 points, having gone 10-for-13 from inside the arc, were as important as his 5 offensive rebounds (9 in total) that led to second chances.

The Barcelona center, along with the always-clutch Nicolas Laprovittola, who made some big shots and ended the game with 15 points, inspired their team to an 89-81 victory.

 “\[The second half was\] much better than our first half,” Hernangomez stressed. “I think that we executed the plan in the second half and this is the way we need to play – executing the plan from minute zero to minute 40.

“That’s Barcelona: a team that plays really good defense, having fun on offense, sharing the ball with each other. We gave everything we had to come back into this game. I am super proud of this team.”

<center>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ca" dir="ltr">𝐌𝐕𝐏.<br><br>⭐️ 2️⃣1️⃣ punts<br>⭐️ 2️⃣6️⃣ de valoració<br>⭐️ 9️⃣ rebots <a href="https://t.co/PVz3CUVCuT">pic.twitter.com/PVz3CUVCuT</a></p>&mdash; Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1733257581043286102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Following [an 80-75 defeat at Virtus Segafredo Bologna](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-virtus-bologna-vs-barca-basket/) on Wednesday, Barcelona managed to get back to winning ways and improved to a 10-3 record, the second-best record in the EuroLeague. Most importantly, the Blaugrana protected their home court, where they have won six games from six this season.

Their next game is at home, too, as Barcelona hosts EA7 Emporio Armani Milan next Friday in Round 14, when Coach Grimau’s side will look to build on its momentum.

More Barcelona News

Alex Abrines of FC Barcelona in action against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The Blaugrana trailed by 12 points at halftime, before winning the second half 51-31.

Second-half defense sparked Barcelona comeback against Fenerbahce

FC Barcelona v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2023-12-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Virtus Bologna and Maccabi Tel Aviv had 17 lead changes and 11 ties in the first half of their Round 13 contest in the 2023-24 EuroLeague season, before the Italian side did enough to grab the win after the break.

With lessons learned, Virtus Bologna got past Maccabi Tel Aviv with a controlled second half

Virtus Segafredo Bologna showed once again this week that it has learned its lessons from tough previous games, as it used a controlled second half to [fend off Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 100-90](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-virtus-bologna-vs-maccabi-tel-aviv-bc/) in an up-tempo shootout in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The lead changed hands 17 times in the first half, with 11 ties, but Virtus led from start to finish in the second half as it improved to 9-4 and 7-1 at home, following seven straight home wins.

The stage is set for an elite encounter. Maccabi has the league's third-best offense (85.5 ppg.), but Virtus, which has won six straight at home, is close behind (82.8). Iffe Lundberg scored 6 late points seal victory over Barça, yet here has the significant challenge in the backcourt with Lorenzo Brown.

Virtus Segafredo Bologna-Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv | Round 13 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### Virtus had an answer for Maccabi after halftime

Virtus pulled ahead by as many as 11 points in the second half but watched Maccabi close to within 2 points. Still, Luca Banchi’s team remained resilient and focused on offense and answered every Maccabi charge, having never trailed in the second half.

“I am very happy with the mental consistency of the team,” said the Virtus boss.

After all, Banchi’s team had already been through some big swings in games this season.

Virtus led by 15 points in the first game of the season but ended up losing 79-82 against Zalgiris Kaunas. In Round 6, Virtus trailed by 9 points but grabbed a 93-81 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

Virtus was down by just 5 points in the fourth quarter against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens but lost the fourth quarter 28-13 in a 90-76 Round 9 loss. And in Round 11 at FC Bayern Munich, Virtus was up by 14 points but again struggled in the fourth quarter with a 20-10 frame and lost 90-76.

Virtus then had a comeback victory earlier this week, charging back from 16 points down to beat FC Barcelona 80-75.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">Buonanotte dalle V NERE 🤍🖤<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmarsiAncora?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AmarsiAncora</a> <a href="https://t.co/uhaNEfwLPW">pic.twitter.com/uhaNEfwLPW</a></p>&mdash; Virtus Segafredo Bologna (@VirtusSegafredo) <a href="https://twitter.com/VirtusSegafredo/status/1733257875689013284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### Taking care of the ball

And against Maccabi, the biggest change in the second half was controlling the ball better. After committing 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, Virtus lost the ball only twice in the second half.

“We’ve been in these situations before where we have been up and somehow let the game slip out of our hands,” said star forward Toko Shengelia, who had another outstanding game with 27 points and 8 rebounds.

“So we learned from our mistakes. Today was all about increasing the lead and controlling the tempo. And we did that step by step. Everybody stepped up on defense and it was a great team effort.”

More Virtus News

Ognjen Dobric of Virtus Segafredo Bologna has possession against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 13 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

After a back and forth opening 20 minutes, the Italian side took over after the break.

With lessons learned, Virtus got past Maccabi with a controlled second half

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2023-12-08T19:30:00.000Z)