This season's latest double-round week gets up and running with Round 8 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here's your guide to all the action, including an Italian derby and two all-Spanish matchups.
November's sole double-round week opens on Tuesday!
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6 mins read
Tuesday, November 14
AS Monaco vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
The week's opening tip-off will see red-hot Monaco (5-2) aim for a sixth straight win against an Efes team (3-4) that hopes last week's victory over Zalgiris proves to be the start of a renaissance.
There are stars galore in the backcourt as Mike James (18.6 ppg., 5.4 apg.) and Elie Okobo (10.1 ppg., 3.4 apg.) go up against Shane Larkin (13.1 ppg., 5.7 apg.) and Darius Thompson (11.6 ppg., 3 apg.). Monaco is the league's second most-accurate three-point shooting team (39%), helped by Alpha Diallo draining 6 triples on 9 attempts against ASVEL last week. Efes will hope for another strong performance from Derek Willis, who posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in Round 7.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv vs. Olympiacos Piraeus
After starting its temporary Belgrade residency with a hard-fought victory over Bayern last week, Maccabi (4-2) will aim to climb into the all-important top six with a visit from Olympiacos (3-4), which has suffered two straight losses.
Wade Baldwin returned from injury to make his season debut with 12 points last week, and his partnership with Lorenzo Brown (15.7 ppg., 8.5 apg.) will provide a stern test to an Olympiacos defense which has been its usual stingy self by only allowing 75 point per game. The Reds' problems have been at the other end, averaging just 76.1 points (third-worst in the competition), despite Isaiah Canaan putting up 12.1 points himself on 50% three-point shooting.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna vs. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
The season's first Italian derby will see Virtus (5-2) look for a return to winning ways after seeing its five-game winning run ended in Madrid, while Milan (2-5) needs last week's big win over Valencia to be the launching pad for a string of victories.
The highlight matchup of the game comes between two classy power forwards who have registered the best average PIRs in the competition so far, Toko Shengelia (23.1 PIR) and Nikola Mirotic (24.7 PIR). Elsewhere, Milan's all-action Shavon Shields will look for a return to form after a rare bad night last week (0 points on 7 field goal attempts), while Virtus will run its backcourt through Isaia Cordinier, who averages more playing time (24:38) than anyone other than Shengelia.
Valencia Basket vs. Real Madrid
Valencia Basket (5-2) will aim to achieve what nobody else has done since Partizan in Game 2 of last season's playoffs: beat Real Madrid (6-0).
With Jared Harper missing through injury, there will be even more pressure on Valencia guard Chris Jones (11.3 ppg., 4.7 apg.) in his battle with Real's mercurial Facundo Campazzo, who leads the league with 8.7 assists per game and took last week's MVP award. Real leads the league with 88 points on average, with four players averaging double-digit scoring led by Guerschon Yabusele (12.8 ppg). Valencia's strong rebounding will be important against Real's collection of big men, who face a familiar foe in former Barcelona big man Brandon Davies (10.6 ppg.).
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
After coming close to upsetting Barcelona on the road last week, Zvezda (2-5) comes home looking to overcome a Fenerbahce team (5-2) that also seeks a return to winning ways after losing a thriller against Partizan in Round 7.
Zvezda lost in Barcelona despite a 44-27 rebounding advantage thanks to a magnificent performance from Luka Mitrovic (22 points, 6 offensive rebounds).
The Turkish team will attempt to nullify Zvezda's ability to sniff out offensive rebounds through the power of Georgios Papagiannis, who will expect to improve his season average of 3.1 boards per game. In the backcourt, fans can hope for a feast of creative passing from two of the best to have ever graced European basketball, as in-form Milos Teodosic (5.7 apg.) goes up against all-time assists leader Nick Calathes (3.2 apg), who will travel but missed his team's last game and is a question mark for Wednesday.
Wednesday, November 15
ALBA Berlin vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
A battle between the league's bottom two has ALBA (1-6) hosting ASVEL (1-6) as both look above them to see that they are still just two victories away from the eighth-place team in the standings.
The French team, which has the worst defensive record in the competition with 89.6 points per game allowed, will hope that Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot continues his great form after scoring 19 and 18 points in the last two games in his return from injury. ALBA will look to improve its inside defense after allowing opponents to convert 60.8% of their two-point shots, the highest rate in the league. Louis Olinde is key player for the hosts, starting all seven games so far and averaging 10.1 points with strong shooting percentages (66.7% 2PT, 43.5% 3PT).
Panathinaikos Athens vs. Zalgiris Kaunas
Panathinaikos (3-4) will aim to prove that last week's powerful win in Berlin could be the start of something special as its welcomes a struggling Zalgiris (3-4), which has lost three in a row.
Dinos Mitoglou has been the key player for Panathinaikos, averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds in more than 30 minutes on the floor. This week he faces a versatile paint protector in Rolands Smits, who averages 5.3 rebounds and also poses a scoring threat with an average of 13.3 points. Smits has made at least one three-pointer in each of his last six games. The hosts are entering a run of three consecutive games in Athens and will look to make that count against a Zalgiris team that has claimed two of its three wins on the road.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz vs. FC Barcelona
Expect playoffs-like intensity as Baskonia (3-4) welcomes high-flying Barcelona (6-1) for an intense Spanish derby between two teams in good form.
The return of coach Dusko Ivanovic has inspired Baskonia to two straight wins, and the hosts boast the league's top rebounder in Tadas Sedekerskis (9 rpg.). But the battle for inside dominance will be fierce as Barca lines up with in-form newcomers Willy Hernangomez and Jabari Parker, who combined for 38 points on 12-for-16 two-point shooting in last week's battling win over Zvezda. The backcourt features a pair of long-range shooting specialists, with Markus Howard (2.0 3PTM) going up against former Baskonia star Nicolas Laprovittola (2.6 3PTM).
FC Bayern Munich vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
In a meeting of coaching masters as Pablo Laso welcomes Zeljko Obradovic, Bayern (2-5) is desperate to end a four-game losing slide as it takes on a Partizan (3-4) team that was boosted by last week's thrilling win over Fenerbahce.
Partizan leads the league in two-point shooting conversion (60.4%) and has youngster Tristan Vukcevic in great form since returning from injury, scoring 6 of his 7 field goal attempts in his two appearances. Bayern has the worst three-point shooting record in the competition, making just 27.5% of its attempts from beyond the arc, and will hope that shooters like Andreas Obst (6.1 ppg. on 26.3% 3FG) can rediscover their usual long-range accuracy.