EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge Round 21 winner

Nemanja Milanovic beat everyone else in Round 21 with his team Odlicann, which had a Fantasy Challenge score of 254.85.

Nemanja had the following lineup: team captain Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, Chima Moneke of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, James Nunnally of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Scottie Wilbekin of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and Sylvain Francisco of FC Bayern Munich as starters. His sixth man was Stefan Jovic of Valencia Basket, while the rest of the bench was made up of Ognjen Kuzmic of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, Petr Cornelie of Monaco, Danilo Andjusic of Partizan and Tim Schneider of ALBA. His head coach was Cen Erdem of Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

The prize for finishing first in Round 21 is a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2024-25 season, so congratulations, Nemanja!

Nikos Priovolos is the leader of the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge overall standings with 3,720.10 points.

Trades are now open for Round 22. Remember, it's back to three trades per round until the end of Round 26!

The first game in Round 22, Efes vs. FC Barcelona, tips off on Thursday, January 18, at 18:30 CET. This contest marks the deadline to get trades done, so don’t leave it too late!

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become our next round winner in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge!

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 21st winner in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge! 

ALBA Berlin ended a 10-game road losing streak in the EuroLeague by thrashing LDLC ASVEL 63-88 at the Astroballe in Round 21.

ALBA Berlin overwhelmed LDLC ASVEL at the Astroballe

ALBA Berlin ended its 10-game road losing streak in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by thrashing LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 63-88 at the Astroballe in Round 21 on Friday. ALBA excelled in many aspects of the game during its impressive victory in Lyon, France.

ALBA finished the game with 23 assists, a new season high. Its previous-best mark was the 21 assists it had in an 85-71 road loss in Round 14 against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. Both teams had the same number of turnovers, 13, but ASVEL had just 11 assists, less than half of ALBA's total. Gabriele Procida was all over the floor, getting 3 assists, 3 steals and just 1 turnover to go with 12 points off the bench.

Dominating the boards, especially in the second half, allowed ALBA to win the game. ALBA outrebounded ASVEL 31-46, with most of that difference coming in the second half: 14-26. The hosts grabbed just 6 defensive rebounds in the entire second half, while ALBA pulled down 7 offensive boards. As many as nine ALBA players pulled down 3 rebounds or more, all led by Khalifa Koumadje, who grabbed 10 boards in just 16 minutes.

Three-point shooting also made the difference in the game. ALBA buried 8 of 22 three-point shots (36.4% 3FG) and forced ASVEL into very low shooting percentages. ASVEL only hit 2-of-21 shots from beyond the arc. It is the second-worst mark of the season: 9.5%. Real Madrid hit just 2-of-22 three-pointers (9.1% 3FG) in a 65-64 home win against FC Barcelona. ASVEL only shot with a worse percentage once in EuroLeague history, as it hit 1-of-12 three-pointers (8.3% 3FG) in a 61-71 home loss against Zenit St. Petersburg on December 15, 2021.

ALBA broke a five-game losing streak and registered its first EuroLeague win in 2024, as it wiped the floor with ASVEL at the Astroballe.

More ALBA News

Gabriele Procida of ALBA Berlin has possession against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The German side fired on all cylinders on a night in which the French team struggled to get going.

ALBA overwhelmed ASVEL at the Astroballe

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v ALBA Berlin (2024-01-12T20:00:00.000Z)

KK Partizan mounted an incredible 24-point comeback to defeat Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. 88-79 in Round 21 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

KK Partizan flipped the script to turn the tables on Maccabi

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade engineered a rip-roaring comeback to [prevail 88-79 over the visiting Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-kk-partizan-vs-maccabi-tel-aviv-bc/) in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, having wiped out a 24-point first-half deficit.

A game that had it all produced a plethora of thrills and spills, with Partizan coming out on top just a couple of days after throwing away a 19-36 second-quarter lead in a 91-76 defeat at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

Another meeting of direct rivals in the playoff race sees two potent offenses collide as Partizan welcomes Maccabi. The Belgrade group try to bring an end to a troublesome slump of four losses in five, while the visitors are fresh from a standout showing from Wade Baldwin that helped overcome Virtus.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade-Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv | Round 21 Highlights | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### A rocky start before an incredible turnaround

This time around, Partizan looked out for the count after Maccabi raced into a 0-16 lead which soared to 13-37 early in the second quarter, with the home side looking all at sea in every department. Having slashed the deficit to 36-52 at halftime, Partizan regrouped and hit back with a vengeance in the third quarter as James Nunnally took center stage.

PJ Dozier, the game’s top performer with 23 points and 7 rebounds, heaped praise on Nunnally, who was ejected early in the fourth after picking up a second technical foul and finished on 20 points.

“He got thrown out, but he brought in the aggression and that’s what we needed,” Dozier said in a flash post-game interview. “Sacrifice ourselves for the betterment of the team and that’s what he did. Came out strong and we followed his lead.”

Having scored 16 points in the first half, Dozier was again at the fore after Nunnally’s expulsion, sinking some tough mid-range jumpers off the dribble when Partizan needed him to. Dozier and Nunnally compensated for an off night from team captain Kevin Punter, who sat out the entire third quarter on the bench after struggling in the first half.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">IMA JEDAN TIM!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KKPartizan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KKPartizan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/qsbKaH5tlF">pic.twitter.com/qsbKaH5tlF</a></p>&mdash; KK Partizan Mozzart Bet (@PartizanBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/PartizanBC/status/1745928996703895749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### Partizan’s fans were its sixth man on the court

Dozier credited Partizan’s fervent home fans for lifting the team in the face of adversity, with Zeljko Obradovic’s side nosing ahead 67-64 late in the third for its first lead of the game. Maccabi turned that around to 67-69 as the red-hot Nunnally, who fired on all cylinders against his former club in the third quarter, was ejected following a lengthy official review.

That was Maccabi’s last lead as Partizan, roared on by 20,000 souls in a packed Stark Arena, served up a 13-2 run and never looked back.  “We spoke at halftime and I said to the guys that we were going to fight the whole 40 minutes,” said Dozier.

“When you play in front of a crowd like this, you have to do that. You put the energy in to make sure you finish the game and that’s what we did. When we trailed by 24 points, it was one possession at a time. You can’t get the whole lead back in one possession so we just tried to chop the tree down, as we like to say,” the guard elaborated.

PJ Dozier applauds the Partizan fans after the team's win against Maccabi.

Coach Obradovic was delighted that Partizan was able to vanquish the ghosts of tamely going down at Fenerbahce and outscore Maccabi 52-27 in the second half. Known for always asking his players to keep their feet on the ground, Obradovic also demanded more consistency from his fickle troops.

“I feel a little bit better than after the last game,” he reflected. “Today it was the opposite. Against Fenerbahce we had a very bad second half, but tonight I have to congratulate my players and this wonderful crowd.

“They trust us, even though we were more than 20 down. Amazing energy and willpower to play until the end. We were very aggressive on defense in the second half and played the proper way offensively. Let’s see if we can learn from this game how we need to play every game.”

Dejected counterpart Oded Kattash lamented over his Maccabi team totally losing its focus in the second half, when the visitors shot 0-of-16 from three-point range after making 8-of-14 in the opening two quarters.

 “We knew at halftime that they already had three or four big comebacks in this gym,” said Kattash. “They were aggressive in the third quarter and hit some shots, while we lost our flow a little bit.”

“The momentum changed and that’s another lesson for us. We came out focused and aggressive, but it’s all about the 40 minutes. I feel bad for the players, they put in a lot of effort.”

More Partizan News

The Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade players celebrate after beating Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The Serbian team overcame a 24-point deficit to win the game, erasing the bitter taste of losing in similar fashion at Fenerbahce.

Partizan flipped the script to turn the tables on Maccabi

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2024-01-12T19:30:00.000Z)

Dusko Ivanovic coached his 750th game in all competitions for Saski Baskonia on Friday night, as his team beat Olympiacos B.C. 80-69 in Round 21 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season. 

Saski Baskonia celebrated Coach Ivanovic's night in style

It was a special night for coach Dusko Ivanovic on Friday, a landmark occasion, as he coached his 750th game in all competitions for Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. His team provided the perfect gift for him, too, by pleasing him with a defensive-minded performance en route to [an 80-69 win over the visiting Olympiacos Piraeus](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-saski-baskonia-vs-olympiacos-bc/).

"Tonight we played really very, very good defense," Ivanovic said after the game.

Baskonia allowed 32 points in the first half and had held the visitors below 60 points until the final 4 minutes, when the hosts already held a 73-59 lead. On the night, Ivanovic's squad forced 17 turnovers while committing only 9.

"The entire team was really aggressive," noted Maik Kotsar, who had a career-high 5 steals. It just goes to show how aggressive everyone was."

Coach Ivanovic was also impressed with the performance of the Estonian big man, as he played a team-high 32 minutes and also collected 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.

"Tonight, Maik was great against two big guys \[Nikola Milutinov and Moustapha Fall\], and also on offense. He did a great job," Ivanovic stated.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">Una historia de amor verdadero. True love story <br><br>Dusko Ivanovic 💙❤️ Baskonia <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoazenBaskonia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoazenBaskonia</a> <a href="https://t.co/4tVEQi7kvc">pic.twitter.com/4tVEQi7kvc</a></p>&mdash; Baskonia (@Baskonia) <a href="https://twitter.com/Baskonia/status/1745928783163445436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

Another player who did a great job was Chima Moneke, who had 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block before he scored his first points with 4 minutes left in the first half. He finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

"It took me a while to get my legs going, but I am glad today was the day I could do other things on the court to help the team without scoring at the start, then I made some shots at the end," Moneke commented.

### An eye on the playoffs

This win improved Baskonia to 11-10, and gave it a regular-season sweep of Olympiacos. However, not all is gravy, according to Moneke.

"I hope this starts a trend," he said, referring to the fact that this is only Baskonia's third double-digit win of the season.

"Point differential matters. We won most of our games but we are still in the negatives, which I don't like", Moneke explained.

"With how tight this EuroLeague season is, it is going to come down to every game and every point. Every basket matters, too."

Baskonia and Olympiacos are two of four teams, along with AS Monaco and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, sitting between seventh and 10th place, which all lead to play-in. It should be a thrilling end to the campaign, and Baskonia will surely be there or thereabouts.

More Baskonia News

Chima Moneke of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz looks to get past Olympiacos Piraeus duo Nigel Williams-Goss and Filip Petrusev in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

Baskonia improved to 11-10 after a defensive-mined performance against a direct playoff rival.

Baskonia celebrated Coach Ivanovic's night in style

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v Olympiacos Piraeus (2024-01-12T19:30:00.000Z)

Barça Basket guard Dario Brizuela had a breakout game in Round 21 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season, scoring a career-best 24 points in a 91-73 win against Zalgiris Kaunas.

Dario Brizuela showed why he is the ‘Basque Mamba’ against Zalgiris

When [Dario Brizuela](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dario-brizuela/009992/) joined FC Barcelona last summer, it provided the “Basque Mamba” with a chance to play in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for the first time. There have been some sparks of his talent to this point, but in Round 21 – in his 20th game for Barcelona – he earned plenty of applause from the Palau Blaugrana crowd by pouring in a career-high 24 points in [a 91-73 win against Zalgiris Kaunas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-barca-basket-vs-zalgiris-kaunas/).

Brizuela made 10-of-14 shots, including 3-of-6 on three-pointers, en route to his 24 points. He also had 4 rebounds and 2 assists for a PIR of 23, which is also a career-best mark.

“We did a great job. We played the second half like the first quarter and that’s why we went up 20. Everybody is happy today,” said Brizuela, whose previous career highs were 9 points and a 10 PIR.

Dario Brizuela had a career-best 24 points as FC Barcelona beat Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

Brizuela's highlights vs. Zalgiris

### The “Basque Mamba”

Brizuela hails from San Sebastian in the Basque community in northern Spain and always had a good amount of flair to his game. That earned him the “Basque Mamba” moniker from a family member, even if it was meant as a joke at first. On Friday night, he was finally able to show what he can do in a Barcelona jersey.

“I’m happy it only took me 20 games to have a game like this. But the main thing is the win and \[that\] everybody enjoyed tonight. That’s the thing,” Brizuela added. 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">M. V. P. <a href="https://t.co/Pyi2vLJHhC">pic.twitter.com/Pyi2vLJHhC</a></p>&mdash; Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1745937620062834730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The 29-year-old came up in the CB Estudiantes youth system before moving in December 2019 to Unicaja Malaga, where he played a season and a half in the BKT EuroCup. In the summer of 2022, he helped Spain win the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 title and also played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 last summer.

Brizuela remained with Unicaja until the last off-season before moving to Barcelona. He had twice scored 9 points in his rookie EuroLeague season, and he used his opportunity with Nicolas Laprovittola out injured to play a season-high 27:54 minutes against Zalgiris.

And he was doing his thing… the things he was doing with Unicaja that earned him a spot in the Spanish national team: shooting three-pointers, driving to the lane, feeding the ball to others.

And it resulted in a performance finally worthy of the “Basque Mamba” nickname.

More Barcelona News

Dario Brizuela of FC Barcelona in action against Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The Spanish guard had a career-best night for Barcelona in Round 21.

FC Barcelona v Zalgiris Kaunas (2024-01-12T19:30:00.000Z)

ALBA Berlin beat LDLC ASVEL 63-88 in Round 21 to notch its first road win in the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

ALBA Berlin blows out LDLC ASVEL on the road, 63-88

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Johannes Thiemann of ALBA Berlin is defended by Charles Kahudi of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The German side notched its first win this season away from Berlin.

ALBA blows out ASVEL on the road, 63-88

Barça Basket won both of its games in this double-round week, with its latest victory being a 91-73 triumph over Zalgiris Kaunas (7-13) in Round 21 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

Barça Basket secures double-round sweep with 91-73 win over Zalgiris Kaunas

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Joel Parra of FC Barcelona is defended by Keenan Evans of Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

Despite some tricky moments, Roger Grimau's side went to another level late on.

Barcelona secures double-round sweep with 91-73 win over Zalgiris

KK Partizan came back from 24 points down to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. 88-79 in Round 21 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

KK Partizan roars back from 24 down to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., 88-79

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Uros Trifunovic of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade has possession against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

Zeljko Obradovic's squad recorded the club's biggest turnaround in a EuroLeague game.

Partizan roars back from 24 down to beat Maccabi, 88-79

Saski Baskonia beat Olympiacos B.C. 80-69 at Buesa Arena in Round 21 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

Saski Baskonia rides defense to beat Olympiacos B.C., 80-69

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Markus Howard of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz shoots over Giannoulis Larentzakis of Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 21 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The Spanish side took control of the game in the second half and never looked back.