[Ignas Brazdeikis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/ignas-brazdeikis/011983/) of Zalgiris led all scorers in this round with 25 points. [Dwayne Bacon](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dwayne-bacon/011286/) of Panathinaikos Athens leads the league with 19.4 points per game. Olympiacos Piraeus forward [Sasha Vezenkov](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/sasha-vezenkov/003469/) had 12 rebounds, the most in Round 22. Vezenkov also leads the league with 7.4 rebounds per game. Virtus Segafredo Bologna playmaker [Milos Teodosic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/milos-teodosic/jdr/) led all players in Round 22 with 9 assists. Olympiacos guard [Kostas Sloukas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kostas-sloukas/001926/) is this season's assist leader with an average of 6.6 per night. Five players had 3 steals in this round: [Zach LeDay](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/zach-leday/008987/) of Partizan, Paris Lee of Panathinaikos Athens, [Michalis Lountzis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/michalis-lountzis/006302/) of Olympiacos Piraeus, [Bonzie Colson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/bonzie-colson/009783/) of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and [Ognjen Dobric](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/ognjen-dobric/004007/) of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. Olympiacos guard [Thomas Walkup](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/thomas-walkup/008855/) tops the charts for steals, averaging 2.0 per game. Four players had 3 blocks in Round 22: [Bryant Dunston](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/bryant-dunston/003048/) of Efes, [Arturas Gudaitis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/arturas-gudaitis/003120/) of Panathinaikos, [Steven Enoch](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/steven-enoch/011239/) of Baskonia and [Freddie Gillespie](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/freddie-gillespie/011941/) of Bayern. Real Madrid big man [Walter Tavares](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/walter-tavares/005791/) is this season's top shot blocker with 2.6 per game. The lone double-double this round belongs to Vezenkov, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Individual highs: Sasha Vezenkov, Olympiacos, 12 rebounds          

Look back at all the action from Round 22 of the regular season by checking out the best photos of the week!

The Top 10 photos of the week, Round 22

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 22nd winner in the [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge, powered by Ardu Prime](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/es/home?_ga=2.93422105.524122783.1675064598-884385655.1669721726)! Veljko Tresacevic beat everyone else in Round 22 as his team had a whopping Fantasy Challenge score of 201.35.

Veljko used the following lineup: Darius Thompson of Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Billy Baron of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Kevin Punter (team captain) of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Will Clyburn of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Walter Tavares of Real Madrid, all as starters. Dzanan Musa also of Real was his sixth man.

The bench featured Paul Biligha of Milan, Ognjen Jaramaz of FC Bayern Munich, Uros Trifunovic of Partizan and Thomas Walkup of Olympiacos Piraeus. His coach was Zeljko Obradovic of Partizan.

The prize for finishing first in Round 22 is a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2023-24 season!

Ilias Tef. stays atop the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge overall standings. Ilias leads everyone else with a score of 3,734.65 fantasy points.

Trades are now open for Round 23. Remember, three trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season, and you can also trade your head coach.

The first games in Round 23 are Valencia Basket vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, FC Barcelona vs. Bayern and Milan vs. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, scheduled on Thursday, February 2 at 20:30 CET, making that the next round's deadline for trades.

Try to improve your teams and challenge for more prizes at the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge, powered by Ardu Prime!

EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge: Round 22 winner!

It is a double-round week in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season, which means there is not much time to make important decisions inbetween Rounds 22 and 23. 

As always, it is important to find out which teams play back-to-back home games with a chance to rest a bit more. It is not the decisive factor in the [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge powered by Ardu Prime](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/es/home?_ga=2.56730542.524122783.1675064598-884385655.1669721726), but it definitely helps, especially since only two teams, Olympiacos Piraeus and AS Monaco, won on the road in Round 22. FC Barcelona, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Valencia Basket play back-to-back home games on Tuesday and Thursday. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul plays two on the road, but on Tuesday and Friday. Every game matters, and every small advantage is solid gold with just 12 regular season games remaining. 

My team, Gancedato, had another solid week. I signed Donatas Motiejunas of Monaco, one of the best players in Round 22. A couple of starters underperformed, but two of my backups players, Josep Puerto of Valencia and Rokas Jokubaitis of Barca, stepped up well. My coach was Sasa Obradovic of Monaco, whose team won by a good margin. All things considered, I had a score of 162.65 fantasy points and went up in the standings to rank 2,284th overall. Generally speaking, I am playing much better than a month ago, and managed to be solid for several weeks. It is now time to reach the Top 2,000 after Round 23. 

Three trades are allowed before each round, and you can trade your head coach, too. I am letting Coach Obradovic go and signing Ettore Messina of Milan instead. His team plays at home for the second time in 48 hours and Milan has been doing much better recently, with a deeper roster. I am trading Motejiunas because Monaco plays against Real Madrid and I don't want any center playing against Tavares. I am trading Augustine Rubit of FC Bayern Munich and Nando De Colo of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne simply because they were the two starters that underperformed, and I am happy with my bench players right now. 

I am going all-in with Milan in Round 23 and buying [Brandon Davies](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/brandon-davies/007870/) at center. I need a top-class player to make him my team captain on Thursday, and he is my choice. I also bought [Darius Thompson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/darius-thompson/011078/) of Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz because he is seeing extended playing time since Pierria Henry was unavailable, and made the most out of it. Last but not least, I can afford a third potential starter, which will be [Dzanan Musa](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dzanan-musa/006540/) of Real. Musa played well against Monazo without shooting the ball great that night. That is a good sign for a good performance in Round 23. 

You can take a look at my team here:

As you can see, my team features just three players taking the court on Thursday, with Davies as team captain, and seven  more on Friday, most of them potential starters. I have two players each from Real and Milan, so I will be hoping to see high-scoring games in those game in Round 23! If I had five trades, I would have used all of them, but I don't, so I had to be selective. 

Remember, the 2022-23 EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge powered by Ardu Prime features better prizes than ever, so get your game on now!

And don't forget to use #fantasychallenge on social media all season long. Good luck!

Fantasy Challenge: Milan gains my trust

When Zalgiris Kaunas pulled to within 2 points of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, 72-70, at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on Tuesday evening, the home crowd's heartbeats must have been racing. Efes had let four fourth-quarter leads slip in recent weeks, including three times in its last four games, but this time, Will Clyburn ensured that his team got over the line.

Efes went on to win Wednesday night's game 80-70, but against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 16, Valencia Basket in Round 18, FC Bayern Munich in Round 20 and Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in Round 21, the Turkish team had led heading into the final quarter of play. It lost all four of those games.

As a result of those defeats, Efes found itself with a 10-11 record and was in 11th place in the standings. Given the expectations that everyone had for Efes heading into this campaign, having become back-to-back champions and signed Clyburn in the offseason, it was starting to look like it might be a season to forget. After all, Efes has hopes of securing a three-peat, but before it can even dream of that, it needs to be in the playoffs.

That is why Wednesday's victory against Zalgiris was so important. By improving to 11-11 with the win, and jumping up to ninth in the standings in the process, Efes is now just one game back of Valencia in eighth, the final playoff spot. During his post-game interview, Efes head coach Ergin Ataman discussed why it was so crucial that his side won its first game in this double-round week.

"Now, it's very important for us \[that we won\], because of course our goal is to reach a better position in the standings," said Coach Ataman. "Still, we are out of the playoffs, but we will see \[what happens in the future\]. We found the victory against a very important team, and it's two victories \[for us\] against them. Maybe that will be important for us in the final standings."

Reigning-champs Efes seek to snap a two-game losing run and repair their title-credentials for another year, whilst Žalgiris are also in need of a response after a second-half collapse away at Panathinaikos.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs Žalgiris Kaunas - Round 22 - Highlights

But, it could have been a very different story if Clyburn wasn't on the floor. Zalgiris had gone on a 9-0 run to reduce Efes's advantage to 72-70 entering the last 1:24 of the game, yet Shane Larkin responded with a layup to create a bit of daylight, 74-70. Then, Clyburn came to the fore.

As Kevarrius Hayes looked to find Edgaras Ulanovas with 53.0 seconds remaining, Clyburn read the pass and made the steal. From there, he took the ball up the court before dunking on Hayes and causing the roof to come off Sinan Erdem Sports Hall, 76-70. Everything pointed towards the first-year Efes forward being the hero, but there was still 48.5 seconds left on the clock; Zalgiris still had time to turn the game around.

Unsurprisingly, Zalgiris looked to get a quick basket, but Ignas Brazdeikis's floater in the lane came back out off the rim. Brazdeikis and Arnas Butkevicius tried to get the rebound, but Clyburn jumped above everyone to pull the ball out of the sky. He then dribbled to his right, looked up the court and found an open Rodrigue Beaubois, who scored a reverse layup, 78-70.

The key plays of Anadolu Efes Istanbul forward Will Clyburn in the last minute of his team's 80-70 win against Zalgiris Kaunas.

Will Clyburn's key plays in the last minute vs. Zalgiris

There were 35 seconds left, but Efes now had an 8-point advantage. Nevertheless, as Brazdeikis drove towards the rim with 26.2 on the clock, Clyburn put his body on the line to alter the Zalgiris guard's shooting motion, which allowed Bryant Dunston to record his third block of the night. The loose ball fell into the hands of Larkin, who found Beaubois for another layup, this time in the open floor.

That basket was the icing on the cake for Efes, who won 80-70, but the victory wouldn’t have been possible without the play of Clyburn, who finished the night with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Efes will now look to follow up this triumph with another win, this time on the road against the co-leader in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings, Olympiacos Piraeus, on Friday evening (20:00 CET).

Game Videos

Game News

Efes avoided another fourth-quarter collapse thanks to Will Clyburn

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-02-01T17:30:00.000Z)

Winning in El Clásico against FC Barcelona means everything for Real Madrid and its supporters, but given how tight things are at the top of the standings in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, it was important that *Los Blancos* didn’t follow that up with a defeat to Panathinaikos Athens.

On Tuesday night, Barca beat Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 83-78 at Palau Blaugrana to improve to 14-8, meaning that a loss for Real against Panathinaikos would see it have the same record. However, Chus Mateo's team used the positive momentum it had from its 91-86 overtime win in El Clásico to open a 15-2 lead over Panathinaikos at the midway point of the first quarter. When the final buzzer sounded, Real had won 83-68 to once again join Olympiacos Piraeus at the top of the standings.

One of the key players in Real's electric start was forward Guerschon Yabusele, as he scored 8 of *Los Blancos*' 15 points during its 15-2 start, while he had also grabbed 3 rebounds in that time. Yabusele had to sit the final few minutes of the quarter on the bench after picking up his second foul, but points from Dzanan Musa, Mario Hezonja, Gabriel Deck and Sergio Rodriguez ensured that Real closed the first 10 minutes 12 points ahead, 26-14.

Real Madrid's made shots during its 15-2 start against Panathinaikos Athens.

Real Madrid's 15-2 start vs. Panathinaikos

Rather than rest on its laurels, the feel-good factor around Real continued in the second quarter of play. After restoring its 12-point advantage halfway through the second quarter, with Panathinaikos having cut the deficit to 9, Rudy Fernandez scored 5 points in a hurry to make it a 17-point game, 42-25. Then, as the first half drew towards a close, Musa made both of his free throws to set a game-high lead of 21 points, 48-27.

Panathinaikos tried its best to mount a famous comeback in the second half, yet Real extended its advantage to 21 points again, 60-39, midway through the third quarter. The Greens continued to fight in the remainder of the game, but it was unable put sufficient pressure on *Los Blancos*, who saw out the final period with relative ease en route to an 83-68 triumph.

Real Madrid - Panathinaikos Athens | Round 22 | Highlights

Speaking afterward, Yabusele recognized that Wednesday night's contest had the potential to be a banana skin game, but he was happy that Real rose to the task: "I had a good start. My teammates got me going and the energy \[we showed\] just won it. It was a great game. We were focused from the first minute. We knew that it was a tough game and we needed to set the tone from the beginning. We did it tonight, and the most important thing is the win."

On Friday night, Real has another test, this time against AS Monaco, who is tied with Barca for the second-best record in the league (14-8). Monaco grabbed a memorable 94-95 overtime win over Real at WiZink Center back in Round 12, and another victory for the French team would see it match *Los Blancos*' record. However, if Real is able to once again continue its positive momentum into the start of Friday's game at Salle Gaston Medecin, it may end up finishing yet another round at the top of the standings.

Real Madrid carried momentum from El Clásico into Panathinaikos game 

Real Madrid v Panathinaikos Athens (2023-02-01T19:45:00.000Z)

AS Monaco players talked about the team’s 84-102 victory at ALBA Berlin as a confidence builder and head coach Sasa Obradovic said his team is really starting to play at a high level.

"This was good. It gives us confidence for the next games that we have. We did a great job overall as a team - defensively and offensively. We have to keep building on that," said guard Elie Okobo.

And center Donatas Motiejunas added: "It was a good defensive performance to stop the things they wanted to do. It was an important win to get our confidence and move forward."

Obradovic really was happy with his defensive performance against ALBA - especially forcing 20 turnovers. And the Monaco playcaller knows if his troops can play lockdown defense, Monaco could be a serious threat when you consider its offense.

"We struggled without Jordan Loyd," Obradovic said of the guard, who played just one game between Rounds 12 and 20 and the team went 3-4 in those games. Loyd came back and scored 11 points in Round 21 and had 12 points versus ALBA.

"Now we have an additional quality player and it’s not easy with our talented guards and the physicality of our centers to defend us," the coach said.

Monaco came into the ALBA game averaging 15.3 assists per game - ranked 12th in the league. But Motiejunas scored 22 points to pace six players in double figures as the team dished out 22 assists.

"No matter what kind of defense, it is really hard to stop us. We have good shooters, we have ball rotation. The chemistry is there," Obradovic said. "I think we started to play really good. From now on, we know the expectations. Everybody sees us. We’re looking forward to the rest of the games, starting with Real Madrid."

Monaco finding its stride with unstoppable offense 

ALBA Berlin v AS Monaco (2023-02-01T19:00:00.000Z)

### Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach

"It is not so easy to keep the intensity when you have a big lead. We tried our best, but in our minds, we are going to play in two days \[on the road at AS Monaco\] and we controlled the score. This is the thing. Monaco is a great team, they are towards the top of the standings, they are a physical team that plays with energy. We've got to be aware of this energy. They play a lot of one-on-one. They are very, very good. We lost here at home \[against them\]; we need to win there."

 

### Dejan Radonjic, Panathinaikos Athens head coach

"Congrats to Real, they played better than us, of course. From the beginning, they had a big lead and they controlled the game after that. We need to play much, much better in the next game \[at Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz\]."

### Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid forward

"I had a good start. My teammates got me going and the energy just won it. It was a great game. We were focused from the first minute. We knew that it was a tough game and we needed to set the tone from the beginning. We did it tonight, and the most important thing is the win."

 

### Dzanan Musa, Real Madrid forward

"It's always good to start the games good. We know that they have a very talented team, on offense especially. We tried to focus our game on the defense, which we did, and I'm very proud of the team's performance. Now, we're going to prepare for the Monaco game, which is very important for us."

Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid: 'It was a great game'

### Ergin Ataman, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach

"We played great defense all game, but two things were a problem for us. \[Firstly,\] 4-of-5 from three-pointers for \[Ignas\] Brazdeikis, so I think this is his career high. And offensive rebounds. Again, we gave them 14 offensive rebounds. Offensively, we moved the ball well, but we had the pressure that all the games we lost in the last period, it was in the last 5 minutes. Again, we risked the game. We started the last quarter up 10 points, again the game came to 2 points. Anyway, we found a way to win. Now, it's very important for us, because of course our goal is to reach a better position in the standings. Still, we are out of range of the playoffs, but we will see. We found the victory against one very important team, and it's two victories against them. Maybe that will be important for us in the final standings."

### Kazys Maksvytis, Zalgiris Kaunas head coach

"First of all, the team fought until the end. But, I think the quality that we had today is not enough to win against Anadolu Efes. They are a great team. If we need to win the game, we need to add the quality."

### Will Clyburn, Anadolu Efes Istanbul forward

"Any win in the EuroLeague is important. Obviously, there's still a lot more games to play; we need to take it step by step, game by game. We need to put this one behind us right away and get ready for Olympiacos on Friday. Teams are going to go on runs and every team is going to have their struggles during the game, but I think we handled it well today and we need to continue handling our fourth quarters better than we have been."

### Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard

"It was a tough game. They're a very well-coached team, very disciplined. We knew coming into this game that it was very important for us, so we tried to come out with a lot of defensive intensity. There in the fourth quarter, we've had a lot of fourth quarters where we've kind of broken down and lost big leads, so tonight was another situation where things got a little rocky at the end, but we stuck together as a team and we were able to pull it out. Big win, just step by step continuing to grow each day, and hopefully we'll catch that good momentum. I feel better. After missing five months with a couple of different injuries, it's tough to come back and get directly into your rhythm, but my teammates have confidence in me, coaches give me the ball, so I've just got to go out there, continue to be aggressive and get better day by day. Hopefully, by the time the playoffs come around, I'm reaching my peak form. We've just got to take it day by day. Obviously, \[Olympiacos\] are a completely different team than the team we played together. They're a great team, they had a great win last night, so we've just got to go out there, play hard, play aggressive. We're going to be on the road, so try to hit first and keep that intensity throughout the four quarters. They have a great home base there, so they're going to make their runs, but we've got to stick together, continue to work hard as a team and hopefully pull it off in the end."