AS Monaco completed a perfect double-round week by topping Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 93-102 at Buesa Arena in Round 28 on Friday night. Monaco improved to 18-10 and grabbed its third consecutive victory, despite being without injured point guard Mike James. Baskonia dropped to 15-13 and saw its three-game home winning streak come to an end.

Jordan Loyd paced the winners with 19 points. Elie Okobo added 18, Alpha Diallo got 17 and Donta Hall had 5, while Chima Moneke posted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Darius Thompson and Markus Howard led Baskonia with 20 points apiece. Vanja Marinkovic chipped in with 14 points and Maik Kotsar contributed 11 for the hosts. Thompson added 12 assists for a double-double.

Game Videos

Okobo got Monaco going with a jumper, then Baskonia used a 7-0 run that Rokas Giedraitis capped with a three-pointer to get a 7-2 lead. Thompson and Marinkovic each struck twice from beyond the arc, getting help from Max Heidegger to keep Baskonia ahead, 23-18. Hall followed a four-point play with a layup, but Steven Enoch restored a 28-23 lead for Baskonia after 10 minutes. 

Marinkovic got help from Kotsar to boost the hosts' lead to 37-29. Diallo had 4 points in a 0-8 run that put Monaco in charge, 40-41. Donatas Motiejunas scored down low, before Diallo and Loyd each sank a triple and Hall scored a layup to fix the halftime score at 47-52.

Game News

Baskonia used a rain of three-pointers to regain the lead. Marinkovic and Thompson each hit one, Daulton Hommes struck twice from beyond the arc, and Howard buried a big shot in transition to make Monaco call timeout at 67-64. Thompson took over with back-to-back fastbreak layups and Howard sank a jumper. Okobo answered from downtown and Hall followed a dunk with a tip-in for a 73-74 Monaco edge after 30 minutes. 

After nine lead changes, Howard gave Baskonia a 91-87 advantage with under three minutes left. But, Okobo and Loyd combined for 13 points in a 2-15 run which allowed Monaco to walk away with a good-as-gold victory.

Monaco outpaces Baskonia, 93-102

Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v AS Monaco (2023-03-10T19:30:00.000Z)

### Christos Serelis, Panathinaikos Athens head coach

“\[At halftime\] I told them that we had to play defense. \[In the first half\] we didn’t play defense, we didn’t play aggressive. Tactically maybe, we did some good things, but if you’re not playing with your body and your hands, and playing with the mind of the opponent, you cannot win the game. But for the last 18 minutes, we played very good defense. We are working, we are a team and we have to understand that the team wins, not individuals.

“I want to congratulate my players because they played very hard in the second half. They played the way we want to play, and the way we asked from them since the first day I came here. We started with bad defense and bad decisions on offense. We discussed it in the locker room and said we had to fight and win the game with our defense. We allowed only 24 points in the second half and that’s why we won the game, a win that in the end I think we deserved.”

 

### Dusko Ivanovic, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade head coach

“A simple one: we stopped playing basketball.

“After five minutes in the third quarter, I don’t understand it but we stopped playing on defense, we lost confidence on offense, and Panathinaikos played more aggressive than we did in the last quarter. \[Nemanja\] Nedovic had a problem in the second half and couldn’t play more.”

 

### Georgios Papagiannis, Panathinaikos Athens center

“We played really good. Zvezda has a great offensive game and they’re playing tough on defense since Coach Ivanovic came. It’s a hard team, but we had to do the best we could on defense. They have three guards \[Facu Campazzo, Luca Vildoza and Nemanja Nedovic\] who can really handle the ball, but we did the best we can. We had some really good execution on offense and we got a good win. It’s been a long time \[since I had a big game\], I’m aware of it, but since the beginning of the game I said I should give 100% of my energy today. Not just me, all the players in the locker room did the same thing.”

 

### Mateusz Ponitka, Panathinaikos Athens forward

“That was a team effort, eventually. We started really bad; we couldn’t make shots. We had open shots in the first half, we created good open spots. But sometimes it’s like this, you start sloppy and you have to come back in the second half. We played as a team. When we play smart, share the ball and play together, good things are happening the whole season. That’s another point for us to focus on, that’s how we want to play.”

Mateusz Ponitka, Panathinaikos: 'That’s how we want to play'

Panathinaikos Athens v Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (2023-03-10T19:00:00.000Z)

Panathinaikos Athens overturned a 16-point deficit with a huge second half performance to down Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 75-66 on Friday night. The Greens ended a six-game losing run in the process and improved to 9-19, while Zvezda fell to 12-16.

Zvezda took early control to establish a double-digit lead, which was maintained through most of the second quarter for a 29-42 halftime lead. Panathinaikos roared back to go ahead with a 22-2 run, and the momentum never changed after that. Georgios Papagiannis led the way with 17 points and 7 rebounds, while Derrick Williams scored 13 points and Matt Thomas added 11. Nemanja Nedovic and Filip Petrusev scored 12 apiece for Zvezda.

Ognjen Dobric scored Zvezda’s first 5 points and Ben Bentil also netted twice for a 7-10 lead. Nedovic scored 5 in a 0-10 run, making it 9-17 after 10 minutes.

Nedovic’s second triple helped stretch the lead to double digits, 11-22, before a three-point play by Papagiannis brought Panathinaikos closer, 20-26. Nikola Ivanovic’s three-pointer sparked a 0-7 run, answered by 5 straight points from Williams. Ognjen Kuzmic scored twice to make it 29-42 at the break.

Another Ivanovic triple helped take the lead to 31-46, before Thomas cut the gap with a pair of three-pointers. Papagiannis scored twice before Thomas and Williams hit triples to make it 52-55 with 10 minutes left.

A 7-0 run sent Panathinaikos ahead for the first time, then Williams capped an 8-0 run with a three-point play for a 67-58 lead. With Zvezda’s offense dead, a jumper from Mateusz Ponitka settled the outcome.

Huge Panathinaikos comeback stuns Zvezda, 75-66

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul overcame a 17-point first-quarter deficit to beat FC Barcelona 81-73 at home for its joint-biggest comeback, as the Turkish side improved to 17-10 after a titanic tussle with its nemesis, who dropped to 18-10.

Fenerbahce erased a 17-point deficit against Zalgiris Kaunas last season in a 73-67 win over the Lithuanian side, but there is little doubt that Friday’s fightback against Barca will feature as one of the most memorable regular-season games for the Turkish club in recent history.

Center Jonathan Motley paced the winners with 16 points, with all of his points arriving in the second half, while guard Marko Guduric scored 15 on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Devin Booker netted 13 points for Fenerbahce, Scottie Wilbekin added 12 ad Nigel Hayes-Davis chipped in with 10 in a balanced offensive effort generated by ironclad defense through the last three quarters of the game.

Barca's Nikola Mirotic led all scorers with 19 points, Tomas Satoransky had 14 and Nicolas Laprovittola netted 12, while Jan Vesely posted 11 points and 9 rebounds against his former team, where he spent eight seasons before moving to Barca last year.

Vesely, who won the EuroLeague with Fenerbahce in 2017, received a standing ovation from the home crowd on his first return to Istanbul after joining Barca, and the visitors fired on all cylinders in the first quarter, carving out a 13-30 lead before the hosts hit back with 5 unanswered points late in the opening period.

Roared on by a passionate home crowd, Fenerbahce came storming back with a ramped-up defense which confined Barca to just 10 points in the second quarter, with the hosts chipping away at their rivals to reduce the deficit to just 3 points, 37-40, at halftime. Guduric and Wilbekin pulled the strings on offense for the home side, having hit some tough shots while Barca struggled to get any open looks at the other end.

The tide turned in the third quarter as Motley started to dominate the paint, getting the better of Mirotic and Vesely around the rim with the help of Booker and Hayes-Davis, by using his physicality and athleticism to overpower his opponents.

Fenerbahce was 61-56 ahead at the end of the third quarter before a 6-12 run from battling Barca gave the visitors a 67-68 lead midway through the fourth, their last of an electrifying night at Ulker Sports and Event Hall.

With the game hanging in the balance, Motley came up big in the home stretch, helped by a three-pointer from Wilbekin and an audacious hook shot by Guduric as the Fenerbahce trio forced the visitors into submission.

The result left fourth-placed Fenerbahce with a fighting chance of slugging it out for a place in the top four, with the race for home-court advantage in the playoffs headed for a dramatic climax.

Fenerbahce roars back to sink Barcelona, 81-73

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v FC Barcelona (2023-03-10T17:45:00.000Z)

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Live Blog: Maccabi, Monaco grab vital road wins!

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2023-03-10T17:30:00.000Z)

### Dimitris Itoudis, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach

“We were very sloppy on the defensive end at the start; we conceded 30 points in the first quarter and did not use properly either the fouls or the physicality we’re supposed to have. We had to get into the game with a different mindset, but I want to congratulate the players for realizing quickly that the game has to be played differently on the defensive end. We changed several defenses and wisely attacked the spots on the offensive end that we needed to attack in order to create an advantage. It was an amazing crowd, they were with the team when we were down 17. We were 5 out of 14 from two point-range initially, and that was 5 layups. When you can’t score, you need to have some consistency on the defensive end, which we didn’t have in the first quarter. But the players realized that they were playing wrong, and eventually they capitalized offensively \[by using\] good defense. We beat a great team which has shown great consistency and has an unchanged core, is well coached, so we’ve learned from this game and we’re growing.

“Congratulations to the team. The way we opened the game was very bad, it was the opposite of what we had prepared. But credit to the players, they changed their mindset after that. The whole approach was different, so congratulations to the players. Every game matters, and we managed to win against a very good opponent, which has a culture of going to Final Fours. The fans were amazing, especially when we were down by 17. We made some shots at that stage, it was still a big deficit, but minus 17 is not the same as minus 12. We are growing as a team, and this is a morale-boosting victory after the loss to Maccabi.”

### Saras Jasikevicius, FC Barcelona head coach

“I’ll never blame my guys for missing open shots. I am sure they tried and we missed five or six down the stretch. The thing that hurt was the 50-50 ball that we didn’t get before \[Scottie\] Wilbekin’s three-point shot. At key moments, you need to make those \[to go your way\] and some little details decided it. We should have stepped up physically when they did.

“Congratulations to Coach Itoudis and to Fener. I think physicality is what turned the game around. We started well, but in the second quarter we weren’t so good with the 5 turnovers and a lot of missed shots. We struggled offensively, but that’s part of the game, although we missed a lot of open shots. Unfortunately for us, some balls didn’t fall our way and this game was decided by little things.”

### Jonathan Motley, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul center

“It was a team effort. We wanted this game, we needed this game to get back in rhythm, and I think we did a good job in the second half. In the second quarter, we did a really good job. First quarter, I was trash, so I had to come back in the second half and help my team win.

(On replacing Vesely): “I am motivated every game, but he has a special bond here and I have a big pair of shoes to fill. I respect what he did, he played with some of my guys and they won the EuroLeague championship \[in 2017\]. Hopefully I am doing OK and I’ll just try to keep building.”

### Marko Guduric, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul guard

“Like I said at halftime, we needed to play better defense, and we did. Our defense was amazing; in the second quarter we allowed 10 points, then 16 and then 17. That was the key. It was a tough game, everything was pretty even, but in the end our defense won us the game. Those two three-pointers that Scottie \[Wilbekin\] made in the first quarter, when they \[Barcelona\] were playing well, were huge. They kept us in the game and then everybody contributed. I keep repeating myself: we are a new team and this team needs time. I just hope we stay together, and you can see that some guys are improving every day. We are improving as a team every day and we have a lot of potential. We need to stay humble, stay on the ground and work. Good things will come.”

Marko Guduric, Fenerbahce: 'We are improving every day'

 Josh Nebo, Maccabi: "Two big wins this week!" 

### Oded Kattash, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach 

"It is a great win for us. We succeeded to beat two great teams \[this week\]. We showed a lot of character this week, but still we have a lot of work ahead of us. If the ball goes in or not, sometimes you cannot control it as a coach. We had a great shooting night, but I am proud of the way we played defense. Offensively, we shared the ball well and were lucky to hit those shots. But on defense, we were consistent.

"It as a great win and a great week for us, beating two great teams \[Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and Efes\]. We showed a lot of character this week. Maybe it was one of the best complete games of the season. Defensively, we played consistently right from the beginning. It is something that we don't usually do, so I am very happy for that. On the other side, offensively, we had a great shooting night. We shared the ball, attacked the right players and stuck to our game plan. I am very happy. You cannot plan that. As I said, we played against a great team in a tough place to play, and started the game really well at both ends. About shooting, you cannot control those things. I mean, we were lucky today to shoot well, but most of those shots came after a good execution on offense. We shared the ball right, played the right way, and that is why I am very proud."

### Ergin Ataman, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach 

"Maccabi played a great game, \[Wade\] Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown. In the second half, we tried to push the game with full-court pressure, but they deserved to win. We played terrible tonight.

"It was a very important game for us. Actually, we had three players that normally wouldn't play in this game, but we took a gamble to put all three on the court. Our defense was broken and Maccabi played extremely great in the first quarter. They got the advantage, and then in the second half we tried to push the game, we tried to play after going down 25 points. It is very difficult and they deserved to win. It is a strong loss for us, but like I said, the \[injury\] situation of \[Vasilije\] Micic, \[Shane\] Larkin and \[Rodrigue\] Beaubois created big damage for us in this part of the season."

### Wade Baldwin, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv guard 

"It is our fourth \[road\] win of the year. It doesn't come around too often, but we are happy to get this win. Obviously, there are only six games left at this point, so to win against both of these Turkish teams this week has been unbelievable. It is very tough to beat Fenerbahce and the defending champions, so we are extremely happy and now have a home game against Baskonia next week. Just coming out on fire \[was the secret\]. It kind of spread around to everybody; Jarell Martin had a hell of a first half as well. Guys are making shots, and it was a fun first half, but it was fun because we got stops, and we prevented them from... I don't know how many points they scored in the first half, but we held them to really low in the first half, which has been a challenge for us, and we found the way to finish out the game. We are playing against Baskonia next, which just beat Real Madrid away and are playing Monaco right now. They are in great shape as well and is a team that has been very even with us. They dominated us in the first game, so our next game is the most important, to try to improve to 16-13 and get a little bit of separation from that eighth spot. We have been there all year, it has been on our minds all year. We will try to get a little bit of separation and see where this thing can take us."

### Josh Nebo, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv center 

"I feel like for the team, it was a big win. Two big wins this week! It wasn't easy to play against two great teams, so I feel like this week, everybody was focused and locked in, and we played together as a team. And for myself, I just try to play hard and do my job. I think that today, we just played good defense. I feel like we rebounded well and that allowed us to get out in transition. Usually, we struggle on the rebounds and we can't get out and run, so I think today we did a good job at playing defense and rebounding."

Josh Nebo, Maccabi: 'Two big wins this week!'

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv sent a message that echoed all around the competition by downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-86 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Round 28 on Friday. Maccabi improved to 15-13 in the standings, completing a perfect double-round week, while Efes dropped to 13-14 and that much further from the top eight due to having lost twice this season to the visitors. Wade Baldwin led the winners with 23 points. Jarell Martin added 13, Lorenzo Brown 11, Josh Nebo and Darrun Hilliard 10 each. 

 Baldwin leads Maccabi past Efes, 64-86! 

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv sent a message that echoed all around the competition by downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-86 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Round 28 on Friday. Maccabi improved to 15-13 in the standings, completing a perfect double-round week. Meanwhile, Efes dropped to 13-14 and that much further from the top eight due to having lost twice this season to the visitors. Maccabi buried 10 of its first 13 three-pointers to build a 20-45 lead and never let Efes back in the game.

Wade Baldwin led the winners with 23 points. Jarell Martin added 13, Lorenzo Brown 11, Josh Nebo and Darrun Hilliard 10 each. Nebo added 11 rebounds for a double-double. Will Clyburn led Efes with 12 points, all in the second half. Elijah Bryant added 11 and Bryant Dunston had 10 for Efes.

Maccabi found an early go-to guy in Baldwin, who dunked twice, fed Bonzie Colson for a fastbreak slam and added a couple of three-pointers for a 10-17 lead. John DiBartolomeo struck twice from downtown while Martin and Hilliard also hit one apiece from beyond the arc to boost the guests' margin to double digits, 20-33, after 10 minutes. Hilliard buried a three-pointer and Martin followed a power layup with back-to-back triples to break the game open, 20-45. Amath M'Baye and Ante Zizic tried to change things with consecutive three-point plays but Baldwin kept Maccabi way ahead, 33-54, at halftime.

Dunston and Bryant each scored around the basket and Clyburn found his first points, but Efes only managed to trade baskets for a while. Nebo took over with a huge alley-oop slam, Jake Cohen joined the three-point shootout, and Baldwin scored again for a 39-62 Maccabi margine. Baldwin remained unstoppable and Nebo's put-back dunk gave Maccabi a 48-68 lead after 30 minutes. Clyburn took over early in the final quarter and Larkin struck from downtown to give Efes hope at 60-72 with under under 6 minutes left. But Brown buried back-to-back three-pointers as Maccabi restored a 62-80 margin and never looked back.

Baldwin leads Maccabi past Efes, 64-86

Friday of Round 28 brings a critical battle in the fight to make it to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoff as fifth-place Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (16-10) hosts third-place FC Barcelona (18-9). Besides getting one win closer to the postseason, both teams will have the tiebreak advantage in mind as this could be a decisive game, too, for their hopes of having home-court advantage in the next phase. 

Fenerbahce vs. Barca on Friday: Vesely is back!

Friday of Round 28 brings a critical battle in the fight to make it to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoff as fifth-place Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (16-10) hosts third-place FC Barcelona (18-9). Besides getting one win closer to the postseason, both teams will have the tiebreak advantage in mind as this could be a decisive game, too, for their hopes of having home-court advantage in the next phase. 

In Round 6, [Barca edged Fenerbahce 81-80](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/fc-barcelona-fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/E2022/51/) at Palau Blaugrana, stopping the guests' fourth-quarter rally. Barca led 62-69 at the end of the third quarter and 78-71 with 2 minutes left. Fenerbahce got within 81-78 and had the game's final possession, but Johnathan Motley went all the way to dunk the ball instead of trying to force overtime with a three-point shot.

FC Barcelona - Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | Round 6 | Highlights

Some stars who missed that last showdown are available this time, including one EuroLeague MVP per squad. [Nikola Mirotic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nikola-mirotic/000796/), the 2021-22 MVP, is back in top form, having averaged 23.5 points and a PIR of 24.0 in the last two games. [Nemanja Bjelica](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nemanja-bjelica/001413/), the 2014-15 MVP with Fenerbahce, is recently back from a long-term injury for the hosts, who also have new signing [Tyler Dorsey](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/tyler-dorsey/009849/) available. 

What's more, of the 10 players who have won both teams' jerseys over the years, half will be in the mix tonight. Fenerbahce starters [Nick Calathes](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nick-calathes/001932/) and [Nigel Hayes-Davis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nigel-hayes-davis/008962/) were with Barca as recently as last season. Barca's [Nikola Kalinic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nikola-kalinic/004866/) and [Jan Vesely](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/jan-vesely/000925/) wore Fenerbahce yellow for five and eight seasons, respectively, lifting the EuroLeague trophy together in 2017. Barca head coach [Sarunas Jasikevicius](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/teams/fc-barcelona/bar/jasikevicius-saras/?season=E2022) played for both teams and is now coaching Barca.

Of course, it will be a very special game for Vesely, who returns to Ulker Sports and Event Hall for the first time since leaving Fenerbahce after eight consecutive seasons with the club. Vesely starred as Fenerbahce became EuroLeague's first Turkish champion in 2017, reached additional title games in 2016 and 2018, and reached five consecutive Final Fours, from 2015 to 2019. While at Fenerbahce, Vesely was chosen to the All-EuroLeague First Time three times and was voted as the 2018-19 EuroLeague MVP. Expect him to receive one of the nicest standing ovations you will see this season. 

Oddly enough, these two powerhouses have never crossed paths in the playoffs or Final Four. Barca has felt comfortable against Fenerbahce in Istanbul, winning 12 of their 16 showdowns there this century, including the last three. Last season, Barca edged Fenerbahce 74-76 behind 18 points from Cory Higgins. Devin Booker tied the game with a huge dunk but Barca called timeout with 6.2 seconds left and Mirotic buried an acrobatic shot to win the game at the buzzer. 

The coaching battle should be fascinating, too. Jasikevicius won four EuroLeague titles, the final one with Panathinaikos Athens in 2009. Fenerbahce head coach Dimitris Itoudis was Zeljko Obradovic's star assistant coach with the Greens. 'Saras' and Itoudis know each other well, learned from the same master, and should be ready to react to each other's tactical surprises. 

In sum, this game has everything it takes to be a thriller. Don't miss it!  