Slask Wroclaw (1-6) hosts Joventut Badalona (5-2) in Group A on Wednesday in a never-seen-before game in European competitions.

Slask, Joventut finally meet

It will be Joventut's third trip to Poland after facing AZS-AWF Warsaw in 1967 and MKS Mazowszanka in 1998. Slask looks for its second consecutive home victory, led by former Joventut big man Kerem Kanter (10.7 ppg., 8.0 rpg.), Travis Trice (12.4 ppg., 6.8 apg.) and Ivan Ramljak (6.7 ppg., 6.7 rpg.). Joventut lost its last two games on the road and has not won away from Badalona since Round 1. Joel Parra (11.9 ppg.) has been its top scorer until now, followed by Pau Ribas (11.2 ppg.) and Ante Tomic (11.1 ppg.). Expect a hard-fought showdown at Hala Orbita.

Keys to victory: Turk Telekom vs. Lietkabelis

 One area he will surely address will be rebounding; Turk Telekom has been outrebounded by 5.4 boards per game so far this season. Winning on the boards will be of supreme importance against Lietkabelis Panevezys, which has outrebounded its opponents by 6.1 per game. Octavius Ellis and JaJuan Johnson will be among those asked to keep pace on the glass for Turk Telekom in one key to this game. 

Lietkabelis has committed the third-most turnovers in the EuroCup this season (15.9 per game) and needs to lower that number in Ankara to improve its chances. It has actually averaged 16.3 turnovers in road games, so it is a number Coach Nenad Canak must beware of.

Turk Telekom Ankara v Lietkabelis Panevezys (2021-12-22T17:00:00.000Z)

Anthony Clemmons 2- Turk Telekom Ankara (photo Martin Imatge - Andorra) - EC21

Three-pointers will be flying out of the hands of the small forwards when Turk Telekom Ankara faces Lietkabelis Panevezys.

Keys to victory: Turk Telekom’s Harrison vs. Lietkabelis’s Orelik

The visitors’ Gediminas Orelik leads the EuroCup in three-pointers made with 25 and Turk Telekom's Aaron Harrison is tied for third (21). The two lead their teams in scoring, too, with Orelik’s 16.7 points per game good for 10th in the competition and Harrison’s 16.0 ranking 12th. All signs point to a high-scoring showdown between these two and this marquee matchup is certain to play a big role in the game’s outcome.

Gediminas Orelik - Lietkabelis Panevezys (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) EC21

Turk Telekom Ankara will try to protect its position in the top half of the Group A standings when it hosts Lietkabelis Panevezys on Wednesday.

Turk Telekom faces Lietkabelis in mid-table showdown

Turk Telekom is in fifth place with a 4-3 record and Lietkabelis is in sixth place with one less victory. Turk Telekom is 3-0 at home this season and coming off its premier road win last week, 70-76 at Dolomiti Energia Trento, behind 15 points off the bench from Aubrey Dawkins. This game will be new head coach Henrik Rodl’s first on the Turk Telekom bench. Lietkabelis is 2-2 on the road, but lost 81-76 last week in Andorra despite 23 points Gediminas Orelik. This game will be the first EuroCup meeting ever between the clubs.

JaJuan Johnson - Turk Telekom Ankara (photo Trento) - EC21

The game between Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Partizan NIS Belgarde is a real treat between two of the best teams in the competition.

Keys to victory: Lokomotiv vs. Partizan

 The hosts rank second in scoring teams with a crazy 91.3 points per game, almost 10 more than Partizan. However, the visitors, true to the spirit of Coach Zeljko Obradovic, have the third-best defense and allow 13 points fewer than the hosts, so it will be a battle of styles, while it also remains to be seen how Loko players will perform under Coach Maksimovic.

Partizan seems to be having a bit of a struggle circulating the ball in offense, but is also the third-best team from the free-throw line. Loko relies on superscorers like Errick McCollum (21.3 ppg.), Johnathan Motley (23.9 ppg.) and Darius Thompson, but they will have a real obstacle in front of them when they face Partizan's defense. Zach LeDay (12.0 ppg.) and Alen Smailagic (10.0 ppg.) lead Partizan in the paint, but the team’s focus starts on defense, so the team that manages to impose - and maintain - its style throughout the game, will have the best chances to come out on top.

Greg Whittington - Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (Photo Marvin Contessi) - EC21

The battle in the paint in this game will feature two of the premier big men in the EuroCup.

Marquee matchup: Lokomotiv's Motley vs. Partizan's LeDay

 Johnathan Motley of Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar not only leads his team, but is tops in the competition in scoring (23.9 ppg.) and PIR (28.3), tied for second in blocks (1.4 bpg.) and fourth in rebounding (7.6 rpg.). Zach LeDay of Partizan NIS Belgrade does not have the eye-popping numbers that Motley does, but LeDay has been a force for his team with 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. With three seasons of EuroLeague experience, including as a starter for AX Armani Exchange Milan on last season’s Final Four side, LeDay has his fill of top-class games and that experience could be critical against Motley in this marquee matchup.

Zach LeDay - Partizan NIS Belgrade - EC21

Lokomotiv (5-2) is in the middle of a three-way tie with MoraBanc Andorra and Joventut Badalona for second place after a surprising loss at Hamburg Towers last week, 100-82. That result triggered the dismissal of Coach Evgeny Pashutin, who will have Branko Maksimovic on the sidelines this week as interim head coach. Partizan (6-1) leads the standings after narrowly beating last-place Slask Wroclaw last week 75-73. This is the seventh time these two teams will meet in the EuroCup in one of the most repeated duels over the years. Loko leads their head-to-head series, 4-2. The home team has won each of the last five clashes between them.

It will be a battle for the top of Group A when Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar hosts group leader Partizan NIS Belgrade on Wednesday. 

Lokomotiv, Partizan look to end the year at the top

Johnathan Motley 2- Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (Photo Marvin Contessi) - EC21

Dylan Ennis of Gran Canaria (5-2) and Milos Teodosic of Virtus Segafredo Bologna (5-2) have been among the most productive and dangerous offensive weapons through the first seven rounds of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season and now the two are looking to spark offensive fireworks on Wednesday night when Virtus visits Gran Canaria in their Group B showdown.

Head to head: Dylan Ennis vs. Milos Teodosic

Ennis paces Gran Canaria this season, having posted double figures in scoring in every game this season, and scoring at least 14 or more points in each of his last six appearances. Virtus playmaker Teodosic, meanwhile, leads his team's top-scoring offense, which has averaged 93.0 points per game this season.

This season, Teodosic has been worth 13.0 points, 7.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. After a slower start to this campaign - 5.5 points and 6.5 assists in his first two appearances of the regular season, Teodosic has averaged 16.3 points and 7.3 assists during Virtus's current three-game winning streak.

Teodosic is shooting a respectable 38.2% from long range, especially considering his high volume. But while he attempts more than 9 field goals per game, he still falls well short of Ennis, who has fired up 12.9 shots per game, tied for the ninth-most this season.

Ennis is averaging a career-high 16.1 points this season, which ranks 11th in the competition while shooting a career-best 40.9% from three-point range. He has knocked down 18 three-point shots through the first seven rounds, which is more than all but four players so far this season and also just 14 shy of the number of triples he made in his first 27 games in the competition.

The Gran Canaria swingman is also on pace for career-best marks in rebounds, steals, blocks and free throws made.

For the soon-to-be 30-year old Ennis, this is his third season in the competition, with a third different club. He made his EuroCup debut in the 2018-19 season when he helped MoraBanc Andorra reach the semifinals and he made six appearances a season later with AS Monaco.

Teodosic, on the other hand, made his competition debut in January 2015, at the age of 17 with FMP Belgrade of his native Serbia. He also played there the following season, but after that did not return to the competition until he signed with Virtus for the 2019-20 campaign.

Over the last three seasons, Teodosic has been lighting it up, averaging 15.9 points and 18.5 PIR, which are both the highest of any player with at least 25 appearances during that stretch. He has done it by making 2.4 two-pointers as well as 2.4 three-pointers per game and dishing 6.5 assists per game, the competition's most since the 2019-20 season.

A two-time EuroCup Regular Reason MVP and a former Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP, Teodosic now aims to keep fueling Virtus's offense on the road against Gran Canaria, where Ennis will be looking to continue producing at his career-best level.

Gran Canaria v Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2021-12-22T20:00:00.000Z)

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 flipped the game script in the second half on Tuesday night to pull out an 81-74 victory over MoraBanc Andorra. A cursory look at the box score wouldn’t reveal anything unusual. The team’s top three scorers over the first seven games of the season – Will Cummings, Vince Hunter and Keith Hornsby – were the team’s top three scorers in this game, though not necessarily in that order. However, many of the game’s biggest moments came from some unsung heroes.

Unsung heroes carried Metropolitans

First, there was Lahaou Konate, who started at small forward, but was largely quiet in the first half, when he did not attempt even a single shot. When it appeared that the game was in danger of spiraling out of control in the third quarter, Konate took over.

Andorra led by 9 before Keith Hornsby scored the hosts’ first basket of the second half. Then Konate went to work. First, he grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul. On the ensuing possession, he pulled up and scored from the baseline. A minute later, after he grabbed a defensive rebound, Konate drilled a three from the top of the key. As Konate started feeling it, he threw in a shot in the lane to tie the game at 44-44. His personal highlight came when he attacked the heart of the Andorra defense and dunked to make it 49-46 as he alone outscored the visitors 9-2 over nearly 7 minutes.

Andorra regrouped after that to lead 55-56 early in the fourth when Tomer Ginat scored in the paint. The teams continued to go back and forth. With the score tied at 61-61, Tony Crocker beat the shot clock with a triple. Some 90 seconds later, Ginat tracked down an offensive rebound and found Crocker in the corner for a go-ahead three that made it 67-65. Andorra would not lead again.

Crocker’s clutch shooting came in his first EuroCup game with Metropolitans after he recently joined the club on a three-month contract. The 34-year-old forward made 18 of 40 three-pointers (45%) in his previous EuroCup stint with Tofas Bursa four years ago and introduced himself to the fans in Paris with some more big-time shooting.

Ginat’s timely plays should be no surprise to EuroCup fans. In his second season with Metropolitans, the big man started the team’s first five games and was averaging 8.4 points and 5.2 rebounds for a PIR of 10.2 before he suffered a leg injury playing for the Israeli national team. In his first game back, Ginat was a little rusty and finished with 4 points, 5 boards and a PIR of 2, but the fact that Coach Vincent Collet could count on him for the entire fourth quarter says plenty about his importance to the team.

“I just want to thank the team because we made a team effort on defense and we were focused for 40 minutes,” Konate said after the game. “I think that was most important for this win.”

All of that is true, with a special mention to three unsung heroes who made a world of difference in this game, even if their names weren’t in the headlines.

Tomer Ginat - Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (photo Olivier dAlmeida - Metropolitans) - EC21

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 v MoraBanc Andorra (2021-12-21T19:15:00.000Z)