 Fenerbahce ruled around the rim, again 

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul couldn't have shot much worse from the three-point or free-throw lines as it tried to stave off visiting AS Monaco on its home floor on Thursday night. 

Fenerbahce would finish making just 7 of 30 three-pointers for its lowest efficiency from the arc, 23.3%, all season. Things was just as bad at the foul line, where the hosts downed just 17 of 29 attempts, or 58.6%, for its third-worst performance of the season there. 

Fenerbahce won nevertheless, 98-94 in overtime, thanks to stellar work around the rim, hitting 30 of 43 two-pointers for 69.8% accuracy that is proving the team's calling card this season. 

Big man Johnathan Motley went 7-for-10 on Thursday to raise his league-leading average of two-pointers made to 5.8, which he converts at a rate of 63.6%. Scottie Wilbekin went inside to make 6 of 7 shots, one shy of his career high. Marko Guduric went 4-for-6 and Nick Calathes 3-for-4 when they ventured inside. At a lower rate, but still 58.3%, was Nigel Hayes-Davis, who made 7 of 12 attempts.

Johnathan Motley, Scottie Wilbekin, Marko Guduric, Nick Calathes Top 2-pointers vs. AS Monaco, 01/19/2023

Fenerbahce ruled around the rim again

No other team in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague has made as many as 30 two-pointers this season with such high efficiency, except Fenerbahce. Its 33-for-42 twos (78.6%) in a 107-77 blowout of Panathinaikos Athens in Round 8 was the best by any team so far. Fenerbahce followed that by making 30 of 40 (75.0%) in beating ALBA Berlin by 29 in Round 12. 

On Thursday, Fenerbahce's relentlessness around the rim made all the difference when compared to Monaco, which struggled to make 24 of 49 two-pointers, or 49.0%, its eighth performance below the break-even mark this season. So despite Monaco shooting somewhat better from the arc and much better at free throws, it was not enough despite both teams taking the same total shots for the night.

Fenerbahce now ranks second among all teams in two-point accuracy this season, at 57.6%, behind only Olympiacos Piraeus's 59.1%. With its third victory in a row and a chance to even return to a share of first place on Friday, it's worth wondering how potent Fenerbahce can become if its other shots start falling.

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Fenerbahce ruled around the rim, again

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v AS Monaco (2023-01-19T17:45:00.000Z)

Valencia Basket strengthened its playoffs push with a commanding 89-81 victory over direct rival Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade at La Fonteta. The host improved to 10-10 after three straight wins while Partizan dropped to 9-11.

Valencia bridged the first and second quarters with a 16-3 run to lead by double-digits. Partizan improved after the break and rallied to within 3 points, but could never get closer than that as Valencia powered home. Bojan Dubljevic inspired the home team with 20 points and 6 rebounds, James Webb netted 17 points and Chris Jones scored 13 on his return from injury. Dante Exum paced Partizan with 22 points, and Kevin Punter added 14. 

Two dunks from Mathias Lessort and two triples from Punter gave Partizan the early edge, 12-13, despite 7 points for Josep Puerto. Jones scored twice to help send the host ahead, 27-18, after 10 minutes. Exum fought to narrow the gap with 7 straight points, but Dubljevic netted a pair of layups to keep Valencia in control, 47-37, at halftime.

Three-pointers from Dubljevic, Webb and Jones maintained a comfortable lead, but Exum cut the gap to 58-55 with 5 points in a 0-7 run. Dubljevic again reignited the host, and it was 69-58 after three quarters. Partizan rallied once more despite Lessort fouling out, and Punter’s triple pulled it back to 75-72, but three-point plays from Dubljevic, Webb and Jones sealed the outcome.

Valencia powers past Partizan, 89-81

Valencia Basket v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2023-01-19T19:45:00.000Z)

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv enjoyed an 87-74 win over ALBA Berlin as the Israeli giant thrived from a majestic performance by guard Wade Baldwin, who lit up the contest with a career-high 33 points and 6 assists, carrying his team after playmaker Lorenzo Brown limped off injured in the first quarter.

Forward Bonzie Colson also put in a massive shift for the home side with 11 points and 8 rebounds, Darrun Hilliard netted 9 points shooting 3-for-4 from three-point range while Rafi Menco and Jarell Martin chipped in with 8 points each. Center Josh Nebo netted just 2 points – a spectacular slam dunk off the glass – but he racked up 13 rebounds for the home team.

Jaleen Smith and Gabriele Prochida scored 12 points apiece for ALBA, with Louis Olinde and Tim Schneider adding 9 each. Maccabi improved to 11-9 while ALBA dropped to 6-14.

Maccabi profited from a fast start as it raced to a 12-4 lead midway through the first quarter, despite Brown going down with what looked like a twisted ankle. The home team stretched its advantage to 25-10 at the end of the first period as Hilliard sank a three-pointer from the baseline to beat the buzzer.

It was clear after Brown headed for the locker room that he would be sidelined for the remainder of the contest and Baldwin stepped up emphatically to carry the mantle for Maccabi.

ALBA pulled itself together in the second quarter and at one stage slashed the 28-10 deficit to just 8 points, but Maccabi was able to take a 38-28-point lead into the locker room at halftime thanks to some good work from the bench.

And then, enter Baldwin. With ALBA threatening to turn the tide, the 26-year-old poured 13 points in the third quarter, nailing a pair of three-pointers and a mid-range jump-shot to keep Maccabi in the driver's seat with the pressure intensifying. ALBA threw all it had at Maccabi but Baldwin was not to be denied, with Colson and Hilliard providing much-needed support. The home team had a 67-54 advantage at the end of the third quarter but was far from being home and dry as ALBA scored 6 unanswered points early in the fourth, with Baldwin on the bench with 3 fouls.

With the visitors threatening to turn the tide, Maccabi head coach Oded Kattash has no choice but to throw the man of the match back into the fray and Baldwin duly delivered. Seemingly effortlessly, he sank a pair of mid-range shots which hit nothing but net and then dispatched a couple of free throws to give Maccabi a 76-65 lead and send the home side out of ALBA’s reach.

The visitors battled hard to stay in touch but there was no way back, with Maccabi staying firmly in control as the home players forced ALBA to take a barrage of tough shots while executing at the other end.

Baldwin heaped praise on his teammates for a concerted effort that made up for Brown’s absence.

"Everybody stayed together, we made shots, we had guys contribute all over the bench," Baldwin said in a courtside interview after the game. "You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Rafi \[Menco\], he hit a couple of big threes and a left-handed floater. We’ve had guys come in and impact the game in various ways. Lorenzo went down and other guys stepped up."

Unstoppable Wade Baldwin lifts Maccabi to 87-74 home win over ALBA

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v ALBA Berlin (2023-01-19T19:05:00.000Z)

### Saras Jasikevicius, FC Barcelona head coach

"Of course, I'm happy. Every time we win, I'm happy. Especially \[with\] a win against this team. They play great basketball, it's a very difficult team to stop. We took down their numbers, we had to suffer a lot, but this is what the big games are all about; understanding how to suffer. This is a good step for us. We must keep this feeling and build on it.

"I want to congratulate our players and our fans with the win. I think it was a deserved win; we worked hard for this win, as expected. There was a long period in the first quarter where we were very solid, both on defense and on offense. As I said, it's a very important win for us."  

### Joan Penarroya, Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz head coach

"We had a lot of problems with our defensive rebounds. It's impossible to beat Barcelona if every time they get an offensive rebound when they miss a shot. It's impossible.

"The most important point for us was that we didn’t control the rebounds, our defensive rebounds. We didn’t have a good percentage on our three-point shots, but I think our biggest problem was our defensive rebounds. Barcelona had 18 offensive rebounds and we had 7. It's very difficult to win the game if, when we play good defense, they grab the offensive rebound. I think we competed well, but the rebounds were key tonight."

### Nikola Mirotic, FC Barcelona forward

"Yes, it was important for us \[to win this game\]. We knew how difficult it would be, because we are playing against probably the best team offensively in Europe, but we stepped up defensively and we did a good job. It's a huge win for us. Maybe \[I most helped my team with\] offensive rebounds today. It's something different than usual. I know there are other things where I can improve a player, it's not just on the offensive end. Today, it was more about defense and rebounds."

 

### Tomas Satoransky, FC Barcelona guard

"It's a great feeling to be back with the team \[after injury\]. These past 10 days have been very difficult for me, just watching the team from the outside. I was really hoping to speed up the recovery, but I'm really happy to be with the team and grab the victory at this arena, which is so difficult to win at."

Nikola Mirotic, Barcelona: 'We stepped up defensively and did a good job'

Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v FC Barcelona (2023-01-19T19:30:00.000Z)

Virtus Segafredo Bologna used a 14-0 fourth-quarter run to hold off Panathinaikos Athens 74-64 on Thursday night. Virtus snapped its two-game home losing streak with the win and improved to 9-11 on the season, while Panathinaikos dropped to 7-13. The hosts led for most of the night, but the Greens made their run in the third quarter and went in front 55-57 early in the fourth. But Virtus replied by not allowing a single point for more than 5 minutes while scoring 14 to seal the outcome.

Tornike Shengelia led Virtus with 16 points and tied his career high with 7 assists, and also had 3 steals. Milos Teodosic scored 12, and Ismael Bako had 11 points in this victory. Nate Wolters had 8 of his 15 points in the third quarter, but was scoreless in the fourth. Mateusz Ponitka had 13 and Derrick Williams scored 10 in a losing effort.

Triples from Teodosic and Shengelia gave Virtus an early lead, and an 18-9 advantage late in the first quarter. Bako made his presence felt early in the second, as the margin grew to 27-13. Panathinaikos got an offensive spark with a par of threes from Marius Grigonis and one from Wolters, and Dwayne Bacon's layup cut it to 29-24. But Daniel Hackett sparked a 7-0 run, which helped the hosts to a 43-30 halftime lead. 

Wolters and Paris Lee got Panathinaikos in a good rhythm after the break, and even though Iffe Lundberg's triple still had Virtus up 52-41, a three-point play and a triple from Ponitka cut it to 55-51 at the end of the third quarter, before a triple apiece from Williams and Ponitka in the first 3 minutes of the fourth put the Greens in front, 55-57. But a corner three from Isaiah Cordinier and an alley-oop from Teodosic to Bako made it 62-57, before more free throws from Teodosic and a dunk from Cordinier capped a 14-0 run, icing the game.

Virtus holds off Panathinaikos with big late run

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Panathinaikos Athens (2023-01-19T19:30:00.000Z)

### Alex Mumbru, Valencia Basket head coach:

"It’s important to be solid at home. We played a great game on offense and defense. When Partizan started to push us, we played good defense and finally, we won the game. It’s time to continue working and be with the same dynamic.

“It was a hard game. We started off controlling the game, but in the second quarter we had foul trouble with Dubljevic and Alexander, and they felt more comfortable as we protected our centers to play with them in the second half. In the second half, they improved but we were good, and the fouls on Lessort were important because they allowed us to have more space in the paint and control the rebounds. In the end that was key to the victory."

### Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade head coach:

"We tried, and the second half was different. But at the crucial moments they played good, we made some stupid decisions offensively and also defensively. In the last five possessions, they scored two three-point shots and three baskets and one.

"Congratulations to Valencia. They played very aggressive basketball, they were really good in the first half. In the second half, we tried to come back and played some good minutes but it was not enough."

### Bojan Dubljevic, Valencia Basket center:

"This a really important victory for us. We’re fighting for the top eight and I think we had a great game. We will continue to fight, we practice every day for that."

 

### James Webb, Valencia Basket forward:

"We’re playing as a team, everybody’s getting touches and it’s easier to score when the team does well. We’re just taking it one game at a time. It’s a tough season, EuroLeague is tough every game. You could win by 1 point or lose by 1 point so we’re just trying to take it one game at a time."

Alex Mumbru, Valencia: 'We played a great game'

FC Barcelona moved level on wins with Real Madrid at the top of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings after beating Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 78-85 at Buesa Arena on Thursday night. This victory improved Barca to 13-7, while Baskonia dropped to 11-9 following its fourth straight defeat.

Nikola Mirotic scored a team-high 15 points for Barca, who also had Rokas Jokubaitis and Tomas Satoransky get into double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Satoransky made his return to action after missing Barca's last three EuroLeague games. For Baskonia, Tadas Sedekerskis finished with a career-high 16 points, while Daulton Hommes added 12, Rokas Giedraitis chipped in with 11 and Darius Thompson and Maik Kotsar contributed 10 apiece. Markus Howard had 7 points on his return from injury.

Barca were blisteringly hot from behind the arc to start the game, going 5-of-5 from deep to open a 7-15 lead inside the opening three and a half minutes. But, Baskonia kept its cool and managed to flip the game on its head a few minutes later, going 18-17 ahead thanks to a Giedraitis layup. Vanja Marinkovic came into the game soon after and hit back-to-back triples to extend the gap to 26-23, but the score after the first 10 minutes was 28-28.

 

It was a different style of game in the second quarter, as both teams began to face troubles from three-point territory. Instead, Barca began to punish Baskonia on the interior, with Mirotic putting the visitors up 33-44 after going 2-for-2 from the line. That 11-point margin was Barca's biggest lead of the game to that point. However, Hommes scored 5 points in the closing stages of the first half to cut the deficit to seven points at the break, 40-47.

It was an evenly contested quarter in the early going of the third, with the two teams trading blows, but Howard was struggling to catch fire for Baskonia. As the third quarter drew to a close, Howard had as many fouls as he did points: 4. Yet, Sederkerskis continued his impressive night and set a career-high 16 points as he cut the gap to one point, 63-64, heading into the fourth.

 

One of the areas in which Barca dominated was on the offensive glass, and one of its offensive rebounds – its 17th of the night – resulted in Satoransky draining a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game, 67-77, just past the halfway mark in the fourth quarter. Baskonia kept trying to fight back, but Barca – and Mirotic in particular – found a way to respond each time, as the visitors used its experience en route to a 78-85 victory.

Satoransky returns as Barcelona downs struggling Baskonia 78-85

### Virtus Segafredo Bologna head coach Sergio Scariolo:

"If I knew what the problem was, I could have said to my players to do different things. Actually, sometimes it happens that we stop the ball, we overdribble, we play too much iso basketball, what is not our basketball. The third quarter was poor, but I love how we bounced back, and we regained control and focus and immediately got back to an 8-10 points lead to stay in a quite comfortable situation. First of all, this is the most important for the fans, we owed them a home win. Last week we had two tough home losses, one deserved, the other one not deserved, but at the end of the day still a loss, and now we want to have them happy and enjoy one more EuroLeague win."

### Panathinaikos Athens head coach Dejan Radonjic:

"First, congrats to Virtus for this win. For 2 or 3 minutes in the last quarter, our offense was not good enough for more than this."

### Virtus Segafredo Bologna forward Tornike Shengelia:

"I think today was a great opportunity to work on our third quarter, or second half, because we've been there many times that we play a great first half, then we struggle a little bit in the beginning of the second half. I think we need to get better in that aspect. I think overall we played a good game against a very good team and we need to build on this. Great plans from the coaches and great execution from the players. We got to go step by step, get positive things from this game and work on negative things and get ready for the next game."

### Virtus Segafredo Bologna center Ismael Bako:

"I think today was a big statement to say we are still on track and also it was fun for the supporters to have a great atmosphere. I could feel the fans, they were supporting really good and it gave us a really good boost because we did not start the third quarter that perfectly, but afterward we had the motivation to keep going because we have a big goal in front of us."

Sergio Scariolo, Virtus: 'I love how we bounced back'

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Fenerbahce ruled around the rim, again

Valencia powers past Partizan, 89-81

Unstoppable Wade Baldwin lifts Maccabi to 87-74 home win over ALBA

Nikola Mirotic, Barcelona: 'We stepped up defensively and did a good job'

Virtus holds off Panathinaikos with big late run

Alex Mumbru, Valencia: 'We played a great game'

Satoransky returns as Barcelona downs struggling Baskonia 78-85

Sergio Scariolo, Virtus: 'I love how we bounced back'

Live Blog: Barca wins on the road; Maccabi, Fenerbahce, Virtus, Valencia protect home floor