Four teams secured away victories in Round 14
Game Center: Barça, Valencia grab impressive road wins; Virtus, Baskonia triumph at home
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Friday, December 5
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 79-89 FC Barcelona
Barcelona took down Crvena Zvezda on Friday night, winning 79-89. It is Barcelona’s fifth triumph on the road this season and its first away from home under head coach Xavi Pascual, as the team improved to 9-5 record, the same as Zvezda, which saw its seven-game home-court winning streak snapped. The only time Barcelona trailed was when the hosts scored the opening basket, but Barcelona quickly built a double-digit lead behind Will Clyburn. The hosts repeatedly rallied throughout the night and tied the game on several occasions, but never took the lead.
Dario Brizuela played a key role for the winners, scoring 14 of his 17 points late in the third and in the fourth quarter. Clyburn finished with 22 points, scoring 20 in the first half, while Toko Shengelia had 15 and Kevin Punter poured in 14 points. Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 19 points for Zvezda, and Chima Moneke collected 15 points and 9 rebounds in a losing effort.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 79-89 Valencia Basket
Valencia stunned Panathinaikos with a statement-making road win, 79-89, to claim a share of second place in the standings. A first quarter of momentum changes ended with Panathinaikos ahead, 22-19, and the second period was similar as runs were traded before the interval arrived with the host still leading, 44-38. But Valencia started the second half with a 0-9 run, and stayed in front heading into the last ten minutes, 61-65. Another flurry of scoring gave the visitors a double-digit lead early in the fourth, before defense took over to seal an impressive win.
Darius Thompson powered Valencia with a remarkable combination of 19 points, 6 assists and 8 rebounds, while Kameron Taylor hit 4 triples in his 18 points and Brancou Badio made a trio of three-balls for 12. Kendrick Nunn paced Panathinaikos with 23 points, TJ Shorts added 19, and Kostas Sloukas and Dinos Mitoglou both scored 12. The outcome leaves both teams tied in a share for second place with a 9-5 record.
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 88-78 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Baskonia extended its winning streak at home to seven games across all competitions by beating Milan 88-78 on Friday night at Buesa Arena. Having led from start to finish, the hosts opened a double-digit advantage thanks to a 12-0 run in the third quarter and maintained it until the final whistle was blown. Baskonia improved its record to 5-9, with Milan dropping to 7-7.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored a game-high 21 points, with Matteo Spagnolo netting 18. Leandro Bolmaro and Armoni Brooks bagged 16 each, while Devin Booker ended the game on 13 points.
Virtus Bologna 79-78 Dubai Basketball
Virtus edged out Dubai 79-78 after Luca Vildoza hit the game-winning 3-pointer and then made a crucial steal with only a few seconds left on the clock on the Italian side’s return to their favorite gym. Dubai set the tone early on as the visitors raced into a 2-7 lead early on, but Virtus hit back instantly as Derrick Alston got the hosts going with 8 quick-fire points which turned the first quarter on its head as Virtus surged ahead 26-13. Dubai closed the gap to 26-17 at the end of the first quarter and then completed a 0-16 run to nose ahead 26-29 early in the second, making it a proper rollercoaster as the visitors kept chipping away to take a 39-44 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The matchup got physical and Dubai took a 54-56 lead into the final 10 minutes after a low-scoring third quarter, as both teams beefed up on defense. The see-saw battle kept fans on the edge of their seats down to the wire and Vildoza settled the rip-roaring contest as he hit nothing but net for the game-winning basket before he pickpocketed Filip Petrusev to deny the visitors inside Virtus Arena.
Carsen Edwards paced the home team on 23 points, Vildoza and Alston chipped with 11 apiece while Matthew Morgan added 10. Justin Anderson led Dubai on 16 points as Aleksa Avramovic and Kenan Kamenjas scored 13 each.
Thursday, December 4
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 75-81 Real Madrid
In a physical battle that went down to the final two minutes, Real Madrid grabbed its third consecutive victory by topping Anadolu Efes Istanbul 75-81 on the road in Round 14 on Thursday. Real improved to 8-6 in the standings while Efes dropped to 5-9. Efes led 67-65 with 7 minutes remaining but Real locked in on defense, using a 5-16 run to get another win.
Mario Hezonja led the winners with 22 points. Trey Lyles added 11 while Chuma Okeke had 10, all in the third quarter, for Real. Rolands Smits led Efes with 21 points, matching his career-high effort. Ercan Osmani added 18 on 4-of-4 three-pointers, Rodrigue Beaubois had 11 on his EuroLeague return after missing eight consecutive games, while Isaia Cordinier got 10 for the hosts. Walter Tavares became the first player to reach 500 EuroLeague blocks but also went scoreless for the first time in 256 games, having last done so on October 24, 2019.
Zalgiris Kaunas 65-83 Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
Maccabi recorded its biggest win in Kaunas in more than two decades by smashing Zalgiris 65-83 at Zalgirio Arena. The visitors led 12-20 late in the opening quarter before Lonnie Walker – in his first game back in Lithuania against his former team – scored all the points in a 0-10 second-quarter run that made it 24-39. It was 30-51 at half and, even though Zalgiris's defense limited Maccabi to just 9 third-quarter points, the hosts never threatened the outcome in the second half.
Walker finished with 23 points, Jaylen Hoard posted 16 points and 9 rebounds and Iffe Lundberg added 10 points for the winners. Sylvain Francisco paced Zalgiris with 13 points and 7 assists, but was 0 for 7 from downtown as he saw a streak of 35 consecutive games with a three-pointer made come to an end. Zalgiris lost its second home game all season in falling to 8-6, while Maccabi claimed its second road win in climbing to 4-10.
AS Monaco 125-104 Paris Basketball
Monaco smoked Paris with a 125-104 win on Thursday night, making this the third week in succession that Vassilis Spanoulis’s men have made history. After breaking its own record for margin of victory in each of the last two rounds, Monaco set a new club record with 125 points scored, which is the third-highest total in EuroLeague history. Even more impressive is the fact it came without any need for overtime. Monaco improved to 9-5 with this win, its third in a row, while Paris dropped its third straight to fall to 5-9.
The three-headed monster of Elie Okobo, Matthew Strazel and Mike James ran the show for Monaco. Okobo finished with 26 points and 8 assists, Strazel had 22 points and 7 dimes, while James posted 16 points and 7 helpers. Nikola Mirotic also added 14 points, and Alpha Diallo poured in 10 points. Paris guard Justin Robinson paced his team with 24 points, followed by Jared Rhoden with 22 and Nadir Hifi with 17.
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv 87-80 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
League-leading Hapoel narrowly beat ASVEL on Thursday night, coming back to earn the 87-80 victory. The hosts opened up an early advantage in the opening minutes, which they wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the first half, led by the playmaking of Tyler Ennis and finishing of Dan Oturu. Despite trailing by 15, ASVEL made a buoyant run to shrink the lead heading into halftime, before putting together an incredible third-quarter rally to take the lead. There were then six lead changes as the teams went blow-for-blow. ASVEL were able to grow its lead to 11 early in the fourth, but the hosts plugged away to stay in the fight. With minutes to go, Hapoel went on a 7-0 run to claw its way back into the game. Nando De Colo and Dimitris Itoudis picked up technical fouls as the game became chippy, but Hapoel’s key hustle plays saw it secure the victory.
Dan Oturu played the starring role for Hapoel, adding 7 boards to his 18-point scoring performance. Antonio Blakeney and Johnathan Motley also bolstered their team with 16 points each. The result was especially tough on the excellent Nando De Colo, who kept his team in the clash until the very end, recording 20 points in the loss. Strengthening its position atop the league table, Hapoel moved to 10-4 with the win. ASVEL, meanwhile, slid to 3-11.
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 92-85 FC Bayern Munich
Partizan kicked off the post-Zeljko Obradovic era with a 92-85 victory over Bayern at Belgrade Arena on Thursday. The visitors started strong from beyond the arc and took a 36-43 cushion at halftime. Partizan bounced back and outscored the visitors 28-15 in the third quarter to secure a lead that it maintained until the final whistle despite a late 2-15 Bayern run. Partizan ended a three-game losing skid, with the German side suffering its fifth consecutive loss. Both teams now have 5-9 records.
Duane Washington netted a team-high 22 points on 5-for-6 shooting from deep. Tyrique Jones followed suit with 21 and 10 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie led all scorers with 25 points, with Vladimir Lucic bagging a season-high 17 points. Johannes Voigtmann registered 10 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in defeat.
Postponed game
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
This game has been postponed due to adverse weather conditions.