The race for the playoffs intensifies with Round 28 providing several scintillating matchups between direct rivals. Here's an overview of the action ahead.
Round 28: Pressure to reach the postseason mounts
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Thursday, March 7
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. FC Bayern Munich
After winning three of its last four, Bayern (12-15) will attempt to maintain its postseason challenge with a testing trip to unpredictable direct rival Efes (11-16). These teams' strengths lie in different areas, with the Efes relying on star guard Shane Larkin, who memorably scored 49 points against Bayern in 2019. The German team, on the other hand, will look to dominate the frontcourt through the duo of Devin Booker and Serge Ibaka, who combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds in last week's win over Zvezda. Bayern also possesses long-range shooting threats like Andreas Obst, who netted 17 points in a 86-71 home win over Efes in Round 15.
AS Monaco vs. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
Red-hot Monaco (17-10) will look to make it seven straight wins with a visit from Zvezda (10-17) which is falling away from top-ten contention after losing five of the last six. All eyes will be on Monaco ace Mike James, who needs just 12 points to overtake Vassilis Spanoulis as the competition's all-time leading scorer. James made the difference when the teams met in Round 3, with his double-double of 18 points and 11 assists helping to overcome 20 points from Rokas Giedraitis to secure a 76-82 road win for Monaco. Zvezda big men Joel Bolomboy and LukaMitrovic will also have to battle in the paint to control Donta Hall and Donatas Moteijunas, who each played a big role in Monaco's epic win at Barcelona last week.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv vs. Zalgiris Kaunas
Maccabi (14-13) will look to solidify its position in the top ten and establish a four-game lead over visiting Zalgiris (11-16). After scoring at least 16 points in eight consecutive games, Wade Baldwin will again attempt to lead the Maccabi offense against an equally inspirational Keenan Evans, who scored 18 in last week's loss to Olympiacos. Maccabi boasts the league's second-best offense, at 87.1 points per game, but leaned on excellent defense to secure a 70-78 road win in Kaunas in December. That was unusual because overall Maccabi ranks next-to-worst defensively, allowing 87.8 points per game, so Zalgiris will hope Evans and versatile power forward Rolands Smits can step up to take a much-needed road triumph.
Valencia Basket vs. FC Barcelona
A Spanish derby with plenty of significance in the race for the playoffs sees Valencia (13-14) welcome a Barcelona (18-9) team that will play five of its last seven games on the road. Last week's loss in Bologna again showed Valencia's tendency to be over-reliant on playmaker Chris Jones, whose 20 points made him the only Taronjas player to score in double digits. The host certainly needs a big contribution from former Barca center Brandon Davies as he confronts Jan Vesely and Willy Hernangomez. Vesely was the decisive force, scoring 17 points, as his team edged Valencia 74-70 earlier in the season, and he was also Barca's best player in last week's home loss to Monaco.
Real Madrid vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
After losing its 100% home record with last week's setback against Panathinaikos, league leader Real (22-5) faces a familiar foe as Sarunas Jasikevicius brings his dangerous Fenerbahce (16-11) to the WiZink Center. Real will guarantee qualification for the playoffs with a win, but faces the first team it lost to this season, with Fener taking that overtime tussle 100-99 thanks to 21 points from Marko Guduric in Round 11. The Turkish team's offense was working to perfection in last week's record win over Baskonia, with Nick Calathes dishing 12 of the team's 32 assists. Real will look for Facundo Campazzo to dominate the backcourt both with and without the ball in this heavyweight matchup.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Another meeting of direct rivals sees Olympiacos (16-11) welcome Virtus (17-10) as sixth faces fifth. Virtus showed a good collective game to overcome Valencia last week, dishing 23 assists with just 8 turnovers orchestrated by Alessandro Pajola with 6 helpers, and will need a similarly controlled effort to gain a vital road victory. But that won't be easy against an Olympiacos defense marshalled by the outstanding ball-hawking skills of Thomas Walkup, who powered last week's win at Zalgiris, and the Italian team will also have to find an answer to the shooting prowess of Alec Peters. December's meeting between these teams was a close encounter, taken 69-67 by Virtus after a game-winning shot by former Olympiacos player Daniel Hackett, and this pivotal showdown should be another hard-fought battle.
Friday, March 8
Panathinaikos Aktor Athens vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Fresh from a morale-boosting win in Madrid, third-placed Panathinaikos (17-10) will look to keep on rolling by overcoming ASVEL (6-21), which also lifted its spirits by overcoming Milan last week. We can look forward to a classic backcourt tussle between Greens leader Kostas Sloukas and ASVEL veteran Nando de Colo, who returned from injury to net 13 points in the win over Milan. The French team will also have to handle powerhouse Mathias Lessort after his MVP-worthy exploits in Madrid. His fellow French center, Joffrey Lauvergne, will look to counteract Lessort by repeating his double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds) from the Greens' 81-89 victory between the teams in December.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz vs. ALBA Berlin
Playoffs-chasing Baskonia (14-13) will look for home comforts against an ALBA team (5-22) that has only won once on the road all season. Both teams need to improve defensively, after ALBA allowed 106 points against Maccabi last week while Baskonia fared even worse, conceding 111 at Fenerbahce. The Spanish team's backcourt dynamo, Codi Miller-McIntyre, top-scored with 17 points in an 86-91 victory in Berlin in Round 2. That was also helped by 13 rebounds from Tadas Sedekerskis, who returned from injury in last week's loss at Fenerbahce. He will now look to regain his top form and combine with Chima Moneke to overcome the challenge of ALBA big man Johannes Thiemann and give his team the physical edge at Buesa Arena.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
A meeting of coaching legends will see Ettore Messina's Milan (11-16) attempt to overcome Zeljko Obradovic's Partizan (13-14) in a big battle just outside the postseason places. The Serbian team ended a three-game losing streak by downing Efes last week thanks to a career night from Aleksa Avramovic, with 30 points, and a big game from the athletic Zach LeDay, while Milan's inconsistent season took another blow with a loss at Bayern. LeDay also shined with 15 points as Partizan comfortably beat Milan, 83-69, in December, and the visitors will now look to control the threat of Milan leader Shavon Shields to potentially push into the all-important top ten.