LDLC ASVEL absolutely dominated en route to a 69-98 win at Valencia Basket in Round 33 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

ASVEL thrashes Valencia at La Fonteta, 69-98

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Deshaun Thomas of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne is guarded by Damien Inglis of Valencia Basket in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Pierric Poupet saw his players put on a show in the Spanish city

Valencia Basket v LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (2024-04-04T18:45:00.000Z)

Barça Basket will feature in the EuroLeague Playoffs yet again after clinching its place in the postseason.

FC Barcelona returns to the EuroLeague Playoffs!

After switching head coaches and losing two of its most experienced players, it looked like FC Barcelona might struggle this season, but it has been the other way around.

[Barca punched its playoff ticket in Round 32 after downing Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 92-89 in dramatic fashion](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/fc-barcelona-maccabi-playtika-tel-aviv/E2023/292/) to make it to the playoffs for the 15th time since 2006. Barca's 22-11 record allowed it to qualify with one regular-season games remaining.

The job is not done, however, as Barca still aims for top-four finish and home-court advantage in the playoffs. The *Blaugrana* have a chance to make club history by qualifying for four consecutive Final Fours for the first time. After missing the big event for five consecutive editions, Barca wants to solidify its status as a Final Four regular.

So far, the first goal is met. Barca is in the playoffs. Now it has plenty of time to prepare for its playoff series and be in the right condition to earn a trip to Berlin, home of the 2024 Final Four.

### La magia del Palau

Home-court advantage may be more important for Barca than for any other team in the competition. Head coach Roger Grimau's side has been very strong at home, winning 15 of its 17 games, losing only to EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and AS Monaco. At Palau Blaugrana, Barca has won games by an average margin of 11.8 points, with much better numbers than on the road.

One of sport's fiercest rivalries reignites on the European stage for another highly-anticipated installment of el clásico. Faltering Barcelona try to recover from three defeats from four, while in contrast, reigning-champs Real are runaway-leaders in the standings and appear well prepared in retaining their crown.

FC Barcelona-Real Madrid | Round 18 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Barca ranks fifth in scoring at home (87.3 ppg.), second in three-point shooting (39.1% 3FG) and third in two-point (58.9% 2FG) while fourth in assists (20.0 apg.) and PIR (103.9). However, it has posted lower numbers on the road, where it has a 7-9 record. Away from Palau, Barca is 11th in scoring (78.5 ppg.) and shooting the ball with poorer percentages (53.4% 2FG, 34.9% 3FG).

Still, Barca was able to beat powerhouses like Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Olympiacos Piraeus and Zalgiris Kaunas on the road. Three of its road losses, however, were by 20 points or more.

### Ricky: Barca's x-factor

It was the news most Barca fans were waiting for, as [Ricky Rubio](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/rubio-ricky/lfw/) returned to the club in a mid-season transfer after more than a decade away. Rubio is back playing after battling mental health issues and has the chance to see one of the best European players of all time back in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Rubio is a very different player than the kid who shocked the world, winning EuroLeague, EuroCup and EuroBasket titles, as well as an Olympic silver medal, before he turned 21 years old. At age 33, Rubio has lost his explosiveness but retains his off-the-charts basketball IQ, passing skills and poise.

Ricky Rubio returned to FC Barcelona late in the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

2023-24 EuroLeague highlights: Ricky Rubio, Barca

Coach Grimau has to find a way for [Tomas Satoransky](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/tomas-satoransky/002939/) and Rubio to best play together. Satoransky has started in all of the team’s EuroLeague games until now, with Rubio coming off the bench; they haven't seen much playing time together. Rubio gives Barca EuroLeague-winning experience, too. Only he, [Nikola Kalinic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nikola-kalinic/004866/) and [Jan Vesely](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/jan-vesely/000925/) know what it takes to go all the way in the competition.

Rubio’s connection with [Willy Hernangomez](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/willy-hernangomez/003196/) should be one to follow. Despite averaging less than 15 minutes over the last seven games, Hernangomez posted double-digit PIRs in all of those games. Right now, Hernangomez leads the 2023-24 EuroLeague in PIR per 40 minutes (32.4) with Vesely ranking fourth (30.0). Adding Rubio's passing skills to the mix should only make those numbers climb and turn Barca into an even tougher contender when the playoffs start on April 23.

2023-24 EUROLEAGUE PLAYOFF TEAMS

Barca has qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The next goal: another Final Four appearance!

Barcelona returns to the EuroLeague Playoffs!

Barça Basket has reached the EuroLeague Playoffs after Nico Laprovittola scored a game-winning three-pointer to down Maccabi Tel Aviv BC 92-89 in Round 33 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Laprovittola sends Barça to the playoffs with game-winner against Maccabi, 92-89

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Nico Laprovittola of FC Barcelona celebrates after scoring the game-winning three-pointer against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The Argentine sent the Palau Blaugrana crowd into raptures with a dagger three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left

Laprovittola sends Barcelona to the playoffs with game-winner against Maccabi, 92-89

FC Barcelona v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2024-04-04T18:30:00.000Z)

KK Partizan came out on top at ALBA Berlin by winning 83-94 in Round 33 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Partizan beats ALBA, 83-94, to stay alive in play-in hunt

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PJ Dozier of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade looks to get past Martin Hermannsson of ALBA Berlin in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The Serbian outfit survived a late comeback attempt from the hosts

ALBA Berlin v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2024-04-04T18:30:00.000Z)

AS Monaco Basket has achieved a club-record 22 wins in the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season, with its latest victory coming against Zalgiris Kaunas.

Monaco ensured best-ever regular-season campaign by triumphing in Round 33

Sometimes a good team doesn’t have to play well in order to win, or at least to its potential, and that was certainly the case for AS Monaco on Thursday evening.

Monaco notched its 22nd win from 33 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games this campaign, a new club high in the regular season, by [defeating Zalgiris Kaunas 69-66](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/live-blog-as-monaco-basket-vs-zalgiris-kaunas/) to rubber stamp its place in the playoffs.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗗✅<br><br>Congratulations <a href="https://twitter.com/ASMonaco_Basket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ASMonaco_Basket</a> <a href="https://t.co/CvCn5age3R">pic.twitter.com/CvCn5age3R</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1775963518426054714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Following a strong start to the game by [Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/) and [Donatas Motiejunas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/donatas-motiejunas/lcz/), who scored all 13 of Monaco’s points in a 13-4 start to the game, the hosts rarely got out of second gear the rest of the way. Motiejunas, who came through at Zalgiris, later scored back-to-back baskets inside to effectively wrap up the win with less than 90 seconds to go, 69-60.

There was the potential for some late drama when Zalgiris cut the gap to four points, 69-65, with 16 seconds left and then three, 69-66, with five seconds on the clock, but it was too little, too late for the Lithuanian side. Poor shooting from three-point range ended up proving costly, with Zalgiris being 4 for 24 from deep (16.7% 3FG) early in the fourth quarter before finishing 7 of 29 (24.1% 3FG).

### The winning plays of Blossomgame, Brown

For a team like Monaco, which has players who can turn it on at any moment, games like its Round 33 contest with Zalgiris often require the unsung heroes to step up. Fortunately for head coach Sasa Obradovic, he can rely on [Jaron Blossomgame](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/jaron-blossomgame/011231/) and [John Brown](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/john-brown/010588/) to do the dirty business and the things that don’t always show up on the stats sheet, with both players coming up big at various points on the night.

The likes of James, [Jordan Loyd](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/jordan-loyd/009754/) and Motiejunas are circled on the scouting report well in advance – that much is obvious – but dealing with the likes of Blossomgame and Brown requires a different approach, particularly as their motors never seem to slow down.

John Brown and Jaron Blossomgame both impressed in AS Monaco's win against Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Best plays of Brown, Blossomgame vs. Zalgiris

While Blossomgame had 10 points and 5 rebounds at the break, Brown made his biggest impact in the second half, drawing a couple of charges from Evans and swarming everywhere on the defensive end. Not only did those charges against Evans ruin Zalgiris’s offensive sets, but they put the star guard in a bit of foul bother – they were his second and fourth fouls – and it was yet more evidence of how he leaves his sweat and blood on the court every time he plays.

The fans in attendance at Salle Gaston Medecin are unlikely to be telling their children and grandchildren about Thursday evening’s game, but they did see their side set a new club record and make the playoffs. Monaco simply handled its business, just like a top team should.

Game News

Jaron Blossomgame of AS Monaco is guarded by Brady Manek of Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The Monegasque team’s 22 victories have set a new club record

Monaco ensured its best-ever regular-season campaign with Round 33 triumph

AS Monaco v Zalgiris Kaunas (2024-04-04T17:00:00.000Z)

AS Monaco Basket confirmed its place among the top teams on the continent as it clinched a berth in the EuroLeague Playoffs for the third year running.

AS Monaco Basket clinches playoff berth for third year in a row

AS Monaco confirmed its place among the top teams on the continent as it clinched a berth in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs for the third year running. The club has reached the playoffs in each of its seasons in Europe’s premier competition. 

The Monegasques clinched their playoff ticket by defeating French League rival LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Thursday night…. In doing so, Monaco’s improved its record to 21-11 and is poised to improve on its record – and standing – for the third straight season. 

Monaco reached the playoffs in 2022 from seventh place with a 15-13 mark and took Olympiacos Piraeus the distance before falling in an epic Game 5. Last season, Monaco was fourth at 21-13 and edged Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in another five-game thriller to reach the Final Four for the first time. 

With both of its remaining regular season games at home, the road is paved for Monaco to not only clinch home-court advantage for the next stage, but to potentially finish as high as second in the standings. 

### A slow start

A spot high in the standings was not a given based on how the season started for Monaco. Head coach Sasa Obradovic’s team slumped out of the gate, dropping its first two games, at Valencia Basket and home to Virtus Segafredo Bologna. A five-game winning streak got the team back on track and as high as fourth in the standings. 

However, a mid-season slump saw Monaco tumble again. Consecutive defeats at Maccabi and Olympiacos, against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens left Monaco with an 11-10 record and in eighth place at the end of Round 21. The club responded by reeling off eight consecutive wins, slowly turning from a team in the Play-In Showdown mix to a surefire playoff participant that is fighting for home-court advantage and more.

The eight-game winning streak was the longest in Monaco history and included several highlights, but none bigger than the 98-80 victory over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 28, in which [Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/) became [the EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/mike-james-becomes-the-euroleague-all-time-leading-scorer/), a record he adds to with every basket.

### What comes next?

Monaco cannot take its foot off the gas yet as it looks at first to clinch a top-four finish and potentially even second place. After that, Coach Obradovic’s men can take a deep breath and prepare for the playoffs, a stage that the vast majority of its players are comfortable with. 

The team’s top nine players in terms of both scoring and PIR are all returnees from last season’s squad, which reached the EuroLeague Semifinals. Among the newcomers are players who are familiar with bright lights. [Kemba Walker](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kemba-walker/012709/) is a former NCAA champion, [Petr Cornelie](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/petr-cornelie/004790/) became a EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid last season, [Mam Jaiteh](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mam-jaiteh/002581/) won the EuroCup in 2022 as the competition MVP with Virtus, and [Terry Tarpey](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/terry-tarpey/012515/) owns a EuroBasket silver medal with the French national team. 

That roster has the experience and winning spirit in its DNA to make this season even more special than previous ones. And it has already accomplished the first main goal of the season, to clinch a berth in the playoffs. 

AS Monaco clinches playoff berth for third year in a row.

The club from the principality will now chase its second straight Final Four appearance

Monaco clinches playoff berth for third year in a row

Olympiacos Piraeus is back to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, with a chance to punch its ticket to Berlin. It has been yet another solid regular season for Olympiacos, which made it to the playoffs for the third consecutive year, each time with head coach Georgios Bartzokas on the bench.

 Olympiacos returns to the playoffs 

Olympiacos Piraeus is back to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, with a chance to punch its ticket to Berlin!

It has been yet another solid regular season for Olympiacos, which made it to the playoffs for the third consecutive year, each time with head coach Georgios Bartzokas on the bench.

Olympiacos mathematically qualified to the playoff in Round 33 after [beating Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 86-89](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/crvena-zvezda-meridianbet-belgrade-olympiacos-piraeus/E2023/291/#boxscore) in the Serbian capital. Since the playoffs returned to the EuroLeague in 2005, Olympiacos has qualified as many as 15 times, winning back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013.

The Reds have a chance to make history, too. Olympiacos has never qualified to three consecutive Final Fours. After reaching the championship game in 2015 and 2017, Olympiacos returned to the Final Four in 2022. It made it to another championship game in 2023, losing the title in the final shot. If the Reds make it to Berlin, they hope that the third time's a charm.

Olympiacos kept a core of players last summer but also signed new ones – before and during the season – as well as bringing back former stars. Its initial goal has been matched, as Olympiacos secured a top-six finish. The next step is trying to get the home-court advantage to have bigger chances to return to the Final Four.

### New leaders step up

A couple of key departures forced Olympiacos to find new leaders. Instead of looking for them in the market, Coach Bartzokas opted to trust some of the players he already had in the team and the move has paid off really well. [Isaiah Canaan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/isaiah-canaan/010612/) and [Alec Peters](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/alec-peters/008829/) improved their numbers from one season to the next, leading Olympiacos back to the playoffs.

Peters had the biggest shoes to fill, replacing 2022-23 EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov as the team's starting power forward. Last season, Peters averaged 4.6 points on 41.1% three-point shooting, 2.5 rebounds and a PIR of 4.5. With a starting role, Peters is averaging 13.8 points on 52.6% three-point shooting, 4.9 rebounds and a PIR of 15.2.

Isaiah Canaan and Alec Peters are having career-best shooting percentages from beyond the arc.

Canaan, Peters on fire from deep range

In need of more backcourt scoring punch, Bartzokas turned to Canaan to provide the fireworks. He averaged 6.3 points on 38.2% three-point shooting and a PIR of 3.4 last season. In the current campaign, Canaan went from taking 3.7 three-pointer per game to 5.5, averaging 11.5 points on great shooting accuracy (57.1% 2FG, 43.6% 3FG, 90.4% FT) and a PIR of 8.9. 

Canaan and Peters have opened the floor for the Reds from beyond the arc, combining for 297 three-point attempts and allowing Moustapha Fall, Nikola Milutinov and Moses Wright to get more space in the paint. 

### Defense comes first

This season, Olympiacos has the EuroLeague's best defense, allowing just 74.5 points per game, almost three fewer than any other team. Opponents are hitting just 52.0% of their shots inside the arc and 35.7% from three-point range against the Reds. Despite those many missed shots, Olympiacos allows opponents just 9.6 offensive rebounds on average. 

Defense has been a staple of most teams coached by Bartzokas. Last season, Olympiacos allowed a league-low 75.2 points per game. When Bartzokas took Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar to the 2016 Final Four, it did it with the best defense in the competition (71.2 ppg.). Bartzokas led Olympiacos to the 2012-13 title allowing just 72.7 points per night, too. 

Olympiacos allows just 74.5 points per game. That's almost three points lower than anyone else.

Olympiacos: the EuroLeague's best defense

### Home has been good to the Reds

Gaining the home-court advantage remains a big goal for Olympiacos considering that the Reds have a 39-8 regular season home record in the last three seasons. This season, however, all four Spanish teams won at the Peace and Friendship Stadium: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Valencia Basket. 

Looking back, however, Olympiacos and Coach Bartzokas's teams did not fully capitalize on that home-court advantage. Over the last two seasons, Olympiacos lost one of its two games at home in the playoffs, to AS Monaco in 2022 and to Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in 2023. The Reds were forced to win on the road to take the series to Game 5. Back in 2016, Bartzokas's Lokomotiv also lost the home-court advantage to Barca in the 2016 playoffs, too. 

Once those series reached Game 5, however, home court was worth its weight in gold, just as it was in Game 5 in 2013, when Bartzokas and Olympiacos beat Efes at home to go on and defend the EuroLeague title at the Final Four in London. All told, Bartzokas is 4-0 in playoff Game 5s.

The Reds are back in the playoffs, hoping to make the most our of their experience and talent when the playoffs start on April 23!

The Reds are regulars in the postseason and now they will play a five-game series again.

Olympiacos returns to the playoffs

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade v Olympiacos Piraeus (2024-04-04T17:00:00.000Z)

Olympiacos BC is into the EuroLeague Playoffs after beating KK Crvena zvezda 86-89 in Round 33 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Olympiacos punches playoff ticket with win at Crvena Zvezda, 86-89

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Alec Peters of Olympiacos Piraeus looks to get past Dalibor Ilic of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Moses Wright came up big for the Reds in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points in the final period alone

Olympiacos punches playoff ticket with win at Zvezda, 86-89

AS Monaco Basket has joined Real Madrid and Olympiacos BC in qualifying for the EuroLeague Playoffs following a 69-66 win against Zalgiris Kaunas on Thursday evening.

Monaco books playoff spot with win over Zalgiris, 69-66

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Matthew Strazel of AS Monaco holds off Keenan Evans of Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 33 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The Monegasque side did just enough to come away with the victory