Baskonia (16-15) will look to recover from a pair of losses last week by defending its home court against an in-form Efes team (14-17) pushing hard for a top 10 finish.
Game Notes: Baskonia vs. Efes
A backcourt shootout is guaranteed between Markus Howard, who leads the league in three-pointers made with 3.6 per game, and the competition leader in PIR Shane Larkin (20.3 per night). Larkin's 23 points were not enough for victory when the teams last met, as Howard outscored him with 28 and Codi Miller-McIntyre delivered 14 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists to power an 80-88 road victory in Istanbul. Baskonia has won four straight at home, and another success this week would be enough to guarantee a top 10 finish for head coach Dusko Ivanovic's men.
- This is the 12th consecutive season that these two teams have met in the EuroLeague.
- Last season in Istanbul, Matthew Costello had a career-best game as he led Baskonia to a 114-111 overtime win over Efes with career highs in scoring (33), triples made (5) and PIR (33). In that same game, Darius Thompson, who is now with Efes, dished a career-best 16 assists.
- Darius Thompson played for Baskonia last season and made his EuroLeague debut there. He was named to the 2022-23 All-EuroLeague Second Team and led the 2022-23 EuroLeague in assists with 6.7 per game.
- Last season in Istanbul, Baskonia edged Efes 78-83 with Markus Howard netting 19 points and Vanja Marinkovic 18.
- Efes has scored at least 102 points in four of the last five games it has played against Baskonia in Vitoria-Gasteiz, including 111 points twice.
- Efes’s backcourt duo of Rodrigue Beaubois and Shane Larkin both played for Baskonia. They were there together during the 2016-17 season when Larkin made his EuroLeague debut. Beaubois played for Baskonia during the 2017-18 season, too.
- Efes center Tibor Pleiss spent two seasons with Baskonia, from 2012 to 2014.
- Efes center Tibor Pleiss set his career high in blocks with 4 while playing for Galatasaray Istanbul against Baskonia in December 2016.