It has been a great year in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, full of thrills, drama and great basketball. Let's take a look at the most iconic moments we experienced in 2023.
Top 10 EuroLeague moments of 2023
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10. Polonara returns in Vitoria
Early this season, Virtus Segafredo Bologna forward Achille Polonara underwent surgery and chemotherapy for a testicular tumor that kept him away from the court for several weeks. After missing 12 games, Polonara returned in a road game against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. It was extra special for Polonara, who played for Baskonia in the past and helped the team win the Spanish League in 2020. Baskonia prepared a small pre-game ceremony to hand him a jersey and Polonara received one of the warmest ovations of the season. He played 7 minutes and Virtus beat Baskonia 81-91.
9. Partizan's strong return
Thousands of diehard fans were looking forward to seeing how Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade would compete in its first EuroLeague appearance since 2014. Led by coaching legend Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan put together a competitive roster led by Mathias Lessort, Dante Exum, James Nunnally and Kevin Punter. The club started the season with a 4-9 record but everything clicked after that, backed by unbelievable basketball atmospheres for home games at Stark Arena, winning 16 of the next 21 games to qualify for the playoffs. Partizan was one win away from reaching the Final Four and led by 19 in do-or-die Game 5 against Real Madrid, but had a bittersweet end to a fantastic season.
8. Zalgiris returns to playoffs
It all came down to the final game of arguably the closest and most exciting regular season in competition history. Playoff qualifying possibilities were a mathematical nightmare in the final regular season dates. In Round 34, however, Zalgiris Kaunas had a clear picture of what it needed to access to the playoffs. Zalgiris needed a win in Munich and for either Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz or Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to lose. Both Baskonia and Fenerbahce lost on Thursday, leaving the playoff door wide open. Zalgiris edged FC Bayern Munich 80-83 behind 20 points from Lukas Lekavicius to march into the playoffs in dramatic fashion!
7. LDLC Arena opens with a bang
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne moved into its new home in November. The magnificent LDLC Arena could not have had a better opening game, a double-overtime thriller that will surely go down as one of the best games of the 2023-24 season. Early in the fourth quarter, ASVEL led by 12 points. Bayern rallied to take the lead, 69-73, then ASVEL surged ahead, 74-73, before Leo Bolmaro split free throws at the end of regulation to force an extra session. Nick Weiler-Babb took the game to a second overtime with a wild three-pointer. Finally, Paris Lee gave ASVEL a 100-97, lead but Sylvain Francisco struck from downtown and Niels Giffey's free throw made the difference for Bayern in an instant classic, 100-101!
6. Fenerbahce ends Efes's reign
It was the death of a basketball party that lasted for the best part of five years. During that time, Anadolu Efes Istanbul won consecutive EuroLeague crowns in 2021 and 2022, reached another championship game in 2019 and led the 2019-20 regular season (24-4 record) when the competition was halted. Efes struggled all season and eventually ran out of playoff chances. It was crosstown rivals Fenerbahce who had the final say, downing Efes 103-86 in Round 33 behind 26 points from Nigel Hayes-Davis. Efes was mathematically eliminated and its golden age as one of the best teams in EuroLeague history was over.
5. Real makes playoffs history
No team had come back from a 0-2 deficit to win a playoff series. Partizan surprised Los Blancos at WiZink Center not once, but twice, in the opening games of the series. Walter Tavares, who was hurt in Game 1, returned with a monster Game 3 performance to lead Real to an 80-82 win: 26 points, 11 rebounds and a PIR of 41. In Game 4, Tavares had a critical three-point play in the final minute to lift Real to a 78-85 win. In do-or-die Game 5, Partizan led 60-75 late in the third quarter and seemed to have both feet in the Final Four. Sergio Rodriguez and Sergio Llull led a mammoth 28-8 run, and Los Blancos claimed a 98-94 win to make history.
4. Monaco makes history
AS Monaco became the latest team to qualify for the Final Four. It was close to making it in 2022, but lost Game 5 on the road against Olympiacos Piraeus. This time, Monaco hosted Game 5 against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and made sure to make the most out of its home-court advantage. Maccabi led 76-79 midway through the fourth quarter in Game 5 before Jordan Loyd scored 8 points in a 10-0 run that put Monaco on the right track to the Final Four, 86-79. Just eight years earlier, in 205, Monaco had won the French second division title. Its meteoric rise to become one of the best teams in Europe is worth studying in the basketball history books.
3. Tavares is Final Four MVP
Looking back at Final Fours this century, Ekpe Udoh was the only center to be chosen as Final Four MVP. Walter Tavares joined him on that list, putting together two strong performances to lead Real Madrid to its 11th title. Tavares was a dominant force in the semifinals Clasico against FC Barcelona with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks for a PIR of 39. In the championship game against Olympiacos, Tavares had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 20. His roll of honors is overwhelming: two-time champion, three-time All-EuroLeague First Team, three-time Best Defender and 2023 Final Four MVP!
2. Sloukas's playoffs victory
The playoffs series between Olympiacos and Fenerbahce was one of the best ever. With the series tied at 1-1, Sasha Vezenkov tied Game 3 at 69-69 with a catch-and-shoot eight-meter bomb in the final minute. Marko Guduric buried a jumper for a 71-69 score with 3.8 seconds remaining. Olympiacos called timeout and put the ball in Kostas Sloukas's hands. He called for a pick-and-roll play with Vezenkov and when Fenerbahce switched, Sloukas knew he had a chance and buried a three-point dagger, highly contested by Nigel Hayes-Davis. Olympiacos won the game at the buzzer, 71-72, and ended up winning the series.
1. Llull's shot for the ages
The 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game went down to the final seconds and Sergio Llull made the difference down the stretch. Llull took center Moustapha Fall one-on-one, stopped at the right elbow and buried a rainbow jumper with 3.1 seconds left. If you see the replay, Llull barely flicks his wrist to avoid Fall's block, hitting a shot for the ages. When Sloukas missed at the other end, Real had won its 11th continental title and Llull had claimed his third EuroLeague crown. Just as with Georgios Printezis in 2012, when people look back to the 2022-23 EuroLeague, Llull's name will be the first to come to mind!