The double-round week started with a bang, as all nine Round 12 games were decided by 7 points or less!
Game Center: Unparalleled drama filled Round 12
Article
7 Mins read
Wednesday, December 6
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 91-94 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Maccabi grabbed a hard-fought win over ASVEL in Round 12 of the 2023-24 regular season. The visitors improved to a 7-5 record, while ASVEL dropped to 2-10. Wade Baldwin paced Maccabi with 21 points and 8 assists, with Lorenzo Brown and Bonzie Colson netting 16 and 15, respectively. Joffrey Lauvergne scored a game-high 23 points and downed 9 boards in defeat.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna 80-75 FC Barcelona
Virtus improved to 5-1 on its home floor on Wednesday night by beating Barcelona in Round 12. By coming away with this win, Virtus now has an 8-4 record and is one game back of Barca, which dropped to 9-3. Iffe Lundberg paced Virtus with a game-high 21 points, of which 11 came in the fourth quarter, while Toko Shengelia and Daniel Hackett had 14 points apiece. For Barca, Willy Hernangomez and Jan Vesely were the only players to reach double digits in points, scoring 15 and 13, respectively.
Valencia Basket 85-81 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
Valencia claimed a hard-fought home win over Crvena Zvezda to put an end to a 5-game losing streak in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after the visitors had wiped out a 16-point halftime deficit. Big man Brandon Davies paced Valencia with 21 points and forward Semi Ojeleye added 17 for the home side, which survived Zvezda's second-half onslaught despite shooting 1 of 14 from three-point range after the break. Nemanja Nedovic and Shabazz Napier scored 14 points each, Milos Teodosic added 11 to go with 9 assists for Zvezda.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 80-79 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
In a thriller that came down to the final shot, Baskonia edged Fenerbahce at Buesa Arena on Wednesday. Baskonia improved to 7-5 in the standings while Fenerbahce dropped to 6-6. Markus Howard paced the winners with 28 points, burying the go-ahead three-pointer with 7.9 seconds remaining. Maik Kotsar added 15 and 10 rebounds and Vanja Marinkovic had 13 points. Nigel Hayes-Davis led Fenerbahce with 19 points. Marko Guduric added 14 while Johnathan Motley had 11 for the guests.
Tuesday, December 5
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 71-68 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
In a game that came down to the final shot, Efes edged Panathinaikos 71-68 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on Tuesday. Efes improved to 6-6 with its fifth consecutive home win. Panathinaikos is now also 6-6. Tyrique Jones led the winners with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals for a PIR of 36. Shane Larkin added 20 points for Efes. Mathias Lessort and Kendrick Nunn paced Panathinaikos with 13 points apiece. Coach Ergin Ataman, who led Efes to back-to-back EuroLeague titles, returned to Istanbul to face his former team in his 400th game in the competition.
ALBA Berlin 64-42 Zalgiris Kaunas
ALBA rallied from 16 points down to win a defensive battle 64-62 over Zalgirs thanks to Jonas Mattisseck’s three-pointer with 6.7 seconds left to snap a six-game losing streak. It was ALBA's only lead all game and boosted its record to 2-10. Zalgiris fell to 5-7. Johannes Thiemann led the winners with 16 points and Mattisseck finished with 8. ALBA grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and forced Zalgiris into 23 turnovers Dovydas Giedraitis scored 15 points and Tomas Dimsa had 11 for Zalgiris, but the marquee trio of Keenan Evans, Rolands Smits and Edgaras Ulanovas combined for 20 points - 17 below their combined average.
Olympiacos Piraeus 71-77 Real Madrid
First-place Real duplicated its championship game victory of last spring by grinding out a 71-77 road victory over Olympiacos to improve to 11-1. Real nearly all the way but Olympiacos (6-6) hung around until the final stages, which were dominated by Real at both ends of the floor. Dzanan Musa led the scoring with 23 points on 5-for-7 three-point shooting, including 16 points in the third quarter. Mario Hezonja recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Walter Tavares scored 11. Olympiacos, which could only score 3 points in the final 5 minutes, was paced by Thomas Walkup with 17 points. Moustapha Fall was the only other home player in double digits scoring with 10 points.
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 89-95 (OT) AS Monaco
Partizan eked out an 89-85 overtime home win against Monaco after having survived a late fourth-quarter fightback from the visitors before nearly 20,000 fans at Stark Arena. Partizan improved to 6-6 and Monaco fell to 7-5. Kevin Punter paced the winners with 25 points, including a clutch three-pointer in overtime that gave Partizan the lead for good. James Nunnally crowned a fine individual performance with 23 points, PJ Dozier added 15 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists while Bruno Caboclo chipped in with 13 points and 6 rebounds. At the other end, Donatas Moteijunas posted 23 points for Monaco, Mike James added 16 while John Brown and Alpha Diallo netted 10 each. A pair of three-pointers in the last 14 seconds of regulation time by James forced the dramatic extra period.
FC Bayern Munich 91-84 (OT) EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
In an overtime thriller, Bayern grabbed its third consecutive victory by topping Milan 91-84. Bayern improved to 6-6 in the standings while Milan dropped to 4-8. Carsen Edwards paced the winners with a career-high 32 points. Serge Ibaka added 20 points and 12 rebounds, Nick Weiler-Babb scored 14 and Sylvain Francisco 10 for Bayern. Shavon Shields led Milan with 26 points. Devon Hall and Johannes Voigtmann each added 10 for the guests, who had led 70-76 lead already in the final minute of regulation time. After Edwards struck from downtown, so did Ibaka to beat the buzzer on a broken play and to force overtime, 76-76, after which Bayern took control.