Name: Carlik Jones: 'It's been a tough three games for us'
Channel: Euroleague Basketball

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade guard Carlik Jones spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat ALBA Berlin in Round 31 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.  

Carlik Jones: 'It's been a tough three games for us'

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade v ALBA Berlin (2025-03-25T19:45:00.000Z)

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade-ALBA Berlin | RS Round 31 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Real Madrid-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan | RS Round 31 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Real Madrid v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2025-03-25T19:45:00.000Z)

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade bounced back from three successive defeats in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with an 85-71 home win over ALBA Berlin to stay in contention for a top 10 finish 

Partizan beats ALBA, 85-71, to keep postseason hopes alive 

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade bounced back from three successive defeats in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with an 85-71 home win over ALBA Berlin to stay in contention for a top 10 finish and hence a postseason spot in the continent’s premier competition.

Brandon Davies paced Partizan on 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor, while Carlik Jones followed with 15 points and 9 assists. Isaac Bonga chipped in with 14 points and 6 boards for the hosts, who improved to 16-15. 

At the other end, Matt Thomas led ALBA with 16 points, Yanni Wetzell added 12 and Gabriele Procida netted 10 for the competition’s bottom team, which dropped to 5-26 despite putting on a brave performance at Belgrade Arena.

Game Videos

Last week’s 65-97 home debacle against Anadolu Efes Istanbul had clearly rattled Partizan, as the home team made a jittery start against ALBA and shot a mere 1 of 7 from the floor in the opening exchanges. The visitors, who are looking incomparably more aggressive on defense under new head coach Pedro Calles, took a jittery first quarter 13-14 before Partizan found its range from deep in the second and turned the tide for good.

With offensive boards keeping Partizan afloat in the opening 10 minutes, Davies and Bonga led the charge in the second quarter and the hosts engineered a 40-34 halftime lead as they were roared on by a fervent home crowd, which again turned up in droves hoping to put some wind into their team’s sails. 

Game News

Davies sank a pair of threes early in the third quarter which propelled Partizan into a 53-42 lead but following a barren spell at either end on offense, ALBA hit back with a barrage of triples to slash the deficit to 59-56 late in the period.

Bonga then sank a pair of free throws at the end of the third which instigated an 8-0 Partizan run which restored the home team’s 11-point lead, 67-56, which soon soared to 76-60 midway through the fourth as the home side pulled away.

ALBA fought hard to stay in the matchup but Partizan ultimately had too much firepower for the German side and will now head to a tough road game at Bayern Munich with restored confidence.  

“Defense is going to be the key as we have to contain Bayern’s lethal three-point shooting,” Partizan head coach Zeljko Obradovic told the postgame press conference, having already turned his attention to the upcoming blockbuster. “We’re in with a chance if we show the same energy level as we did tonight and having lots of our travelling fans will certainly be a massive boost.”

The Serbian team ended a three-game skid to rekindle its bid of making the knockout stages of the competition 

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 31 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Olympiacos Piraeus (2025-03-25T19:45:00.000Z)

Real Madrid managed to defeat Olimpia Milano 96-89 in a game it never trailed in, but there will be a sense of frustration for coach Chus Mateo and his men after failing to secure the tiebreaker, having lost by nine points in Italy earlier this season. 

Real Madrid downs Milan, 96-89, but fails to secure tiebreaker

Real Madrid managed to defeat EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 96-89 in a game it never trailed in, but there will be a sense of frustration for coach Chus Mateo and his men after failing to secure the tiebreaker, having lost by nine points in Italy earlier this season. As such, in the event that Real Madrid and Milan finish the season with the same regular-season record, it will be coach Ettore Messina’s squad that has the advantage. Both sides came into this contest with a 16-14 record, but *Los Blancos* have improved to 17-14 while Milan drops to 16-15. 

Dzanan Musa scored 21 points for Real Madrid, which also had Walter Tavares (19 points), Usman Garuba (11) and Facu Campazzo (11) net in double figures. Zach LeDay was Milan’s leading scorer with 15 points, followed by Nikola Mirotic with 14, and Shavon Shields and Fabien Causeur with 13 apiece.

Tavares showed in the early stages of the first quarter that it was going to be a long night, grabbing a couple of offensive rebounds and netting a pair of layups as Real Madrid went 7-3 ahead. Alberto Abalde struck from deep and Campazzo hit from mid-range as it became a 12-3 contest. Milan had a bit of a reaction thanks to a Nico Mannion floater and a pair of Mirotic free throws, 14-7, but Tavares and Usman Garuba then combined to devastating effect as *Los Blancos* opened a 24-9 advantage. Bruno Fernando later piled on the pain, before Musa’s three free throws ensured it was 31-16 after 10 minutes.

Despite a strong start to the second by Milan, with Guglielmo Caruso scoring three points and Neno Dimitrijevic two, a Musa three-pointer soon restored a comfortable lead at 34-21. Shavon Shields and Dimitrijevic reduced it to single digits at 34-25, but Sergio Llull poured in five points in quick succession as Real Madrid went 39-26 ahead. That gap largely remained until the halftime buzzer, with Coach Mateo’s side leading 54-41 at the break.

Scores by Campazzo and Tavares opened a 17-point lead at 58-41, Real Madrid’s biggest advantage of the night, but that seemed to spark a reaction from Milan. LeDay scored six points in a 9-0 Milan run as the visitors reduced the gap to eight points, 58-50. Garuba’s triple and Tavares’s layup put Los Blancos back up by 13, 63-50, but Mirotic then went on a tear by scoring nine straight points to make it 63-59. That was as close as Milan would get, as Campazzo and Hezonja helped swell the lead to 75-61. It was 78-63 heading into the fourth.

Real Madrid kept its foot on the gas and was coasting in the final frame, but once Coach Messina decided to take out most of his starters, perhaps with one eye on Thursday’s game against FC Barcelona, there were signs of a surprise fightback. Armoni Brooks scored three three-pointers in a hurry to make things interesting at 94-86, but with just over two minutes left, Milan needed something of a miracle. Freddie Gillespie ended up going 0 for 2 at the line with 1:13 to go, then Tavares’s put-back layup with four seconds remaining gave Real Madrid a 10-point advantage, 96-86, which was significant given Milan’s nine-point win over *Los Blancos* earlier this season. Yet, out of a timeout, Mirotic drained a three-pointer with the last shot of the game that reduced the deficit to seven points, 96-89, as Milan secured the head-to-head tiebreaker.

On what was a largely dominant night by the hosts, they will be frustrated to have not taken control of the head-to-head advantage

Valencia Basket-Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv | SF Game 1 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup   

Valencia Basket v Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv (2025-03-25T19:30:00.000Z)

FC Bayern Munich grabbed a massive road victory in its fight for the playoffs as it rallied to beat FC Barcelona 101-102

Bayern rallies for 101-102 victory in Barcelona 

FC Bayern Munich grabbed a massive road victory in its fight for the playoffs as it rallied to beat FC Barcelona 101-102. In a battle of teams tied in the standings going into the game, Bayern trailed by 8 points with 3 minutes left but its much-maligned defense held on in a 2-11 run to close the game - winning on Vladimir Lucic’s free throws with 17 seconds left. The last of 23 lead changes decided the game and gave Bayern an 18-13 record including a season sweep of Barcelona.

Carsen Edwards scored 23 points with 5 assists while Elias Harris had 17 points, Nick Weiler-Babb added 16 and Shabazz Napier chipped in 13 points for Bayern, which moved to 6-10 away from home. Andreas Obst was held to just 6 points after having drained a EuroLeague record 11 three-pointers for 34 points in the first meeting against Barcelona in November in Round 11.

Barcelona saw its three-game winning streak snapped to fall to 17-14 despite Jabari Parker pouring in 23 points, Kevin Punter scoring 20 points and Willy Hernangomez picking up 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

Parker had a good first shift with two baskets and an assist as Barcelona led 8-5 early on and a Hernangomez three-point play made it 11-7. Bayern scored the next 5 points to take the lead 11-12, the first of 13 lead changes over the next 5 minutes in a thrilling, high-scoring back-and-forth battle. Napier sank 2 threes in the final moments and Bayern led 28-30 after 10 minutes, which saw a total of 15 lead changes.

The game remained tight with three Chimezie Metu baskets keeping Barcelona close at 36-37. Bayern built the first significant lead with a 0-10 run over 2 minutes thanks to 2 triples from Edwards to lead 36-47. Parker stopped the rut and hit a three-pointer but Barcelona could not really cut into the deficit, trailing 45-56. Punter stepped up for Barcelona with 2 assists and back-to-back three-pointers in a 10-0 close to the first half to head into the break down just 55-56. The 56 points were the most points allowed by Barcelona at halftime of a EuroLeague home game.

The start of the second half got back to the seesaw with 6 more lead changes in the opening 3+ minutes and back-to-back triples from Edwards made it 63-67. Barcelona punched back with the next 8 points to reclaim the lead 71-67. The mood at the Palau Blaugrana was dampened about midway through the third quarter when Metu went down injured without any contact and had to be helped off the court. It was 73-68 when Bayern’s sharpshooter Obst finally hit his first three-pointer with 2 minutes left in the quarter. Obst added a second triple and Bayern was down just 77-76 after 30 minutes.

Barcelona opened the final frame with back-to-back three-pointers to move the lead to 83-76. The second triple was the first basket from Dario Brizuela, who had Barcelona’s next 5 points to make it 88-81. Bayern’s high-octane offense started to stall and Barcelona went ahead 94-83 with 5 minutes to go. It was 99-91 with 3 minutes left, but the visitors would not go away with Weiler-Babb’s jumper followed by an Edwards layup to make it 101-100. After Brizuela’s miss,  Lucic made 2 free throws with 17 seconds to go ahead 101-102. Bayern grabbed the win when Punter’s three-pointer at the buzzer was off-target.

FC Bayern Munich took a major step forward in its fight to reach the playoffs by sweeping its season series with Barcelona

FC Barcelona v FC Bayern Munich (2025-03-25T19:30:00.000Z)

Hayes-Davis wins it! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night 

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v Paris Basketball (2025-03-25T17:45:00.000Z)

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne ended its seven-game losing slide by beating Turkish Airlines EuroLeague leader Olympiacos Piraeus 81-70 on Tuesday night at LDLC Arena

ASVEL overpowers Olympiacos, 81-70

 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne ended its seven-game losing slide by beating Turkish Airlines EuroLeague leader Olympiacos Piraeus 81-70 on Tuesday night at LDLC Arena. The hosts’ defense held the Reds to a season-low 70 points, with guards Theo Maledon and Nando De Colo leading the charge on the other end. ASVEL improved its record to 12-19, while Olympiacos registered its second loss in a row and dropped to 22-9.

Maledon paced ASVEL with 23 points and De Colo netted 18, of which 10 came in the last 4 minutes. For Olympiacos, Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov scored 25 points each, with the latter completing a double-double by picking up 10 rebounds.

Fournier got Olympiacos going with 5 straight points, but baskets from Shaquille Harrison, Andre Roberson and Neal Sako were followed by a transition three from David Lighty, who gave ASVEL a 9-5 lead. Vezenkov responded with 7 points in a row that put the guests ahead, 11-14. Melvin Ajinca answered with a triple, but Vezenkov added 2 points to his tally for a 14-16 edge after 10 minutes.

Maledon opened the second quarter with 5 consecutive points, but Nigel Williams-Goss tied it at 19-19 from deep. ASVEL went on a 7-0 run inspired by Maledon and Lighty for a 26-19 lead. Maledon and Fournier traded triples before a dunk by Saben Lee brought Olympiacos within 31-29. Buckets from Lee and Fournier were followed by a three from Vezenkov, who gave his team a 37-39 lead at halftime.

Roberson and Kostas Papanikolaou exchanged triples before baskets from Maledon, Sako and Harrison put AVEL back in front, 46-42. Vezenkov netted 4 straight points, but Ajinca nailed an off-balance triple to restore a 51-46 lead. After Shaquielle McKissic netted a circus basket, Paris Lee and De Colo made a couple of free throws each for a 58-52 cushion heading into the closing quarter.

Olympiacos opened the fourth with a 0-7 surge, including triples by Vezenkov and Fournier, but Maledon and Roberson nailed back-to-back baskets to put ASVEL ahead, 62-60. Fournier and De Colo exchanged scores inside before a triple by the latter gave the hosts a 70-65 lead. Maledon netted a hard-fought layup and Lighty drilled a jumper to maintain a 74-68 cushion. After Williams-Goss scored inside, a three-point dagger by De Colo on the other end put the game to bed.

Maledon, De Colo helped ASVEL end a seven-game losing streak

Pradilla's coast-to-coast dunk! Magic Moment of the Night

Hezonja with the reverse slam! Motorola Magic Moment

Jean Montero scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half 


Valencia outlasts Hapoel at home, 91-82! 

Valencia Basket got closer to its eighth EuroCup Finals by downing Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 91-82 at La Fonteta in Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal playoff series on Tuesday.

Valencia took a 1-0 lead in the series and earned a chance to punch its finals ticket if it beats Hapoel again in Game 2 in Samokov, Bulgaria. Jean Montero led the winners with 24 points. Chris Jones and Matt Costello each added 13 while Nate Reuvers had 12 for Valencia. Yam Madar and Marcus Foster were Hapoel's top scorers with 20 points apiece. Johnathan Motley had 12 while Antonio Blakeney added 10 for the visitors.

Blakeney got Hapoel going with a five-meter jumper and Motley added a layup. Tomer Ginat capped a 0-6 opening run with a backdoor layup. Jones halved the Valencia deficit, Yam Madar followed Motley's layup with a three-pointer. Reuvers dunked and Jones added a jumper, but Madar singlehandedly kept the visitors in charge, 8-15. Montero sank a six-meter shot before Jaime Pradilla ignited the crowd with a coast-to-coast dunk. After Ish Wainright and Stefan Jovic traded layups, Ginat struck from beyond the arc to boost Hapoel's lead to 14-20. Brancou Badio found his first points for Valencia. Ginat matched Jovic's layup with a floater and Foster's power basket established a 20-24 Hapoel lead after 10 minutes.

Reuvers took over with an alley-oop dunk early in the second quarter and then Jones followed a layup with a triple to give Valencia its first lead, 27-24. Montero capped a 9-0 run with a layup, prompting Hapoel to call timeout at 29-24. Madar struck from downtown and matched Jones's backdoor basket with a layup. He then scored in penetration to tie it at 31-31. Pradilla scored in the low post and Blakeney struck twice from beyond the arc before Jovic drew Valencia within 34-37. Motley stepped up with a three-point play and got help from Blakeney and Marcus Bingham to make it a double-digit game, 36-46. Montero and Costello brought Valencia closer, 42-48, at halftime.  

 

Montero followed a layup with a floater after the break and soon added a wild four-point play to put Valencia back ahead, 50-48. Costello capped a 12-0 Valencia run with a jump hook. Madar and Timor stepped up to bring Hapoel within 52-51. Reuvers made free throws before Costello followed a jump hook and a three-pointer that prompted Hapoel to call timeout at 59-51. Foster tried to change things with a bomb from downtown and matched Pradilla's fastbreak layup with a driving basket that brought Hapoel within 62-57. Bingham made foul shots before Montero's off-balance three-point play gave Valencia plenty of fresh air, 65-59, at the end of the third quarter.

 

Madar buried a jumper off the dribble, which Costello immediately erased with a fastbreak layup. Montero sank a jumper and followed Costello's layup with a bomb from beyond the arc that boosted Valencia's lead to 74-63. Foster followed a driving layup with a three-pointer to give Hapoel hope, 74-68, with 6 minutes left. Reuvers dunked and Jovic erased Foster's floater with a driving layup. Foster buried a corner triple after a timeout. Reuvers took over with an alley-oop slam and Badio's layup-plus-foul kept Valencia in control, 83-74, with over 3 minutes remaining. After Timor struck from downtown, Xabi Lopez-Arostegui scored around the basket and Pradilla's layup sealed the outcome, 87-77. Hapoel kept fighting but the Valencia fans were already celebrating an important home win.

Valencia outlasts Hapoel at home, 91-82

Bahcesehir College Istanbul dominated on the glass and got a huge lift from its second unit en route to a 74-66 victory over Dreamland Gran Canaria in the opening game of their best-of-three BKT EuroCup Semifinals series

Bahcesehir's second unit lifted it in Game 1

It may not have been the way coach Dejan Radonjic drew it up, but it worked perfectly. Bahcesehir College Istanbul dominated on the glass and got a huge lift from its second unit en route to a 74-66 victory over Dreamland Gran Canaria in the opening game of their best-of-three BKT EuroCup Semifinals series.

The home team scored its first basket of the game, a CJ Massinburg three-pointer, after a Kenan Sipahi offensive rebound and continued to control the boards the rest of the night. By the end, Bahcesehir outrebounded Gran Canaria 42-27, including a whopping 20 offensive boards. The home team turned those into 16 second-chance points.

The man who led the way was Marko Simonovic, who tallied 8 rebounds. Those were part of a spectacular line that also included 20 points, 3 assists and 3 steals for a personal-best PIR of 29.

Bahcesehir's reserves made the difference in Game 1

What made his line stand out even more was the fact that Simonovic did not start the game. He was joined by Sehmus Hazer, Furkan Korkmaz and Jalen Smith among Bahcesehir who left their mark on the game despite coming off the bench.

That quartet combined for 42 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists and 5 steals. The Bahcesehir starters had 32 points, 24 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 steals in 27 more combined minutes.

Hazer made his mark early, subbing in with the game tied 15-15 and promptly nailing a three-point shot from the corner. He would add a monster slam in the second quarter and finished the game with 9 points, 3 assists and 1 steal in 19 minutes.  

Korkmaz did his damage in the second quarter when he scored all 8 points of his points. Smith clocked in with just 5 points, but dished 6 assists.

Their impact can be seen in the +/- stats with Simonovic at +19, Smith +9 and Hazer +7, showing how Bahcesehir simply played its best basketball with them on the floor.

The series now moves to Spain for Game 2 on Friday and Gran Canaria will need to pay extra attention to Bahcesehir's second unit if it hopes to tie the series and force a deciding game next week back in Istanbul.

The Turkish side has the advantage in its series with Gran Canaria

Bahcesehir College Istanbul v Dreamland Gran Canaria (2025-03-25T17:00:00.000Z)

Reuvers's alley-oop slam! Magic Moment

AS Monaco-Zalgiris Kaunas | RS Round 31 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

AS Monaco v Zalgiris Kaunas (2025-03-25T18:00:00.000Z)

AS Monaco clinched a hard-fought 96-86 overtime victory over Zalgiris Kaunas to improve its record to 19-12 

Monaco survives overtime thriller against Zalgiris, 96-86

AS Monaco clinched a hard-fought 96-86 overtime victory over Zalgiris Kaunas to improve its record to 19-12 and remain among the top four teams after 31 rounds. The hosts had to overcome a second-quarter 14-point deficit and trailed 65-72 midway through the last period, but a strong late reaction led by Mike James forced overtime, 80-80. James and Elie Okobo combined for 10 points early in overtime to decide the game as Zalgiris ran out of energy. Zalgiris slipped to 14-17.

James led all scorers with 22 points, Elie Okobo followed with 21, Daniel Theis posted 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Jared Blossongame finished with 15 points and 10 boards. Sylvain Francisco paced Zalgiris with 19 points but missed the winning shot in regulation. Ignas Brazdeikis netted 17 and collected 7 rebounds, while Alen Smailagic chipped in 15 and Isaiah Wong 10 in the losing effort.

With only one three-pointer for each team in the first 3 minutes, the game started with strong defenses that prevailed over offenses. Bradzdeikis opened fire for the visitors with 5 straight points and Francisco and Smailagic followed to put Zalgiris ahead, 7-9. Despite losing Laurynas Birutis early because of his third foul and watching Monaco come back, 11-10, Zalgiris remained strong and punished the hosts with a 0-11 run in which Brazdeikis chipped in 5 more points, to escape to 11-21 and finish the first quarter ahead 15-23.

With Wong running the offense, Zalgiris overcame a first Monaco attempt to rally. A technical foul on James, which turned into his third foul and forced him to the bench, preceded a three-pointer and a slam by Smailagic that made things look even better for the Lithuanian champs, 21-34. The hosts’ timeout didn’t work, as Wong and Smailagic kept producing and Francisco showed up with his first three to dig it deeper, 27-42. A 7-0 run led by Theis stopped the bleeding, while back-to-back daggers from downtown by Matthew Strazel and Alpha Diallo capped a 13-4 spark that made it close, 40-46. A buzzer-beating jumper by Okobo brought Monaco within 44-48 at halftime.

Arnas Butkevicius set a 46-51 edge from behind the arc after the game resumed, but those were the only Zalgiris points in more than 3 minutes. Monaco managed to complete the rally and tie things up, 51-51, when Okobo hit his second three of the night. The visitors stopped the game and changed four players, who delivered rapidly. Smailagic came first with 5 straight points to wake Zalgiris up, 54-59, as Theis and Birutis collected their fourth fouls almost immediately. A three-point play by Francisco and a late three by Deividas Sirvydis were like water for the thirsty, enabling the visitors to finish the third quarter with a 58-65 edge.

Mam Jaiteh took over for Monaco early in the last quarter, going for 7 points in a row that got the home team within 65-67, as Birutis fouled out. Zalgiris didn’t tremble, though, and used the free-throw line to keep scoring and earn a 65-72 advantage with 6 minutes remaining.  Diallo was the next one to foul out, as Theis and James made it a one-possession game from the line soon after, with the latter hitting a mid-range jumper to tie it, 73-73, entering crunch-time. Edgaras Ulanovas made the most from consecutive offensive rebounds and nailed a three to cool down Monaco, 73-76, but James remained red-hot and tied it again with 5 more points, including a huge three to tie it at 78-78 with 39 seconds to go. Butkevicius gave Zalgiris its last bucket, but Theis sent the game to overtime because of an offensive foul called after the Butkevicius shot.

James continued pulling the strings for Monaco in the extra session as he opened fire with a bucket and followed with 3 free throws after drawing a foul on Dunston to boost the hosts to an 85-80 lead. That was too much for an exhausted Zalgiris, which saw how Okobo extended it to 90-83 soon after.  Despite Francisco hitting from downtown, Monaco felt completely in charge and just needed another bucket from Okobo to seal the win.

Mike James and Elie Okobo suffocated the Lithuanian champs in the extra period