Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans are in for a treat this Friday night, as Olympiacos Piraeus (12-7) welcomes Real Madrid (13-6) to Peace and Friendship Stadium. This meeting between the team currently fourth in the standings and the league leader has plenty of history, and a new page in this rivalry will be written when they take to the floor in Greece.

Both sides are in pretty good shape coming into this game, as Olympiacos is 3-1 in its last four after a blip that saw it suffer back-to-back defeats, while Real is 4-1 in its last five and was able to record successive road wins in the double-round week last week.

Should the Reds make it four wins in their last five on Friday night, they will become the co-leader in the EuroLeague. Conversely, if *Los Blancos* are able to record another victory, they would end Round 20 on top of the pile for a second week in a row.

When Real hosted Olympiacos at WiZink Center in Round 3, a shootout ensued. The Reds were able to come away with an 87-89 victory, but only after a stellar performance by Sasha Vezenkov, who had a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double. Veteran guard Kostas Sloukas was also key, recording 14 points and 7 assists. Most importantly, in the final seconds of the game, Sloukas executed a pump fake on Edy Tavares before scoring a layup to give Olympiacos the win.

Real Madrid - Olympiacos | Round 3 | Highlights

That was the last contest between these two titans of European basketball, but they have had some memorable games in the past. Real edges the battle 16-19 since the turn of the century, but they are 1-1 in the biggest game of them all: the EuroLeague Championship Game.

In 2013, Olympiacos beat Real 100-88 in London, England to secure its third EuroLeague crown and second in a row. There are three survivors for the Reds from that day – head coach Georgios Bartzokas, guard Sloukas and forward Kostas Papanikolaou – while there are three members of Real's title-losing team that are on its roster: Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez.

One year later, they met again in the playoffs. This time, Real exacted revenge against Olympiacos after winning 3-2 in the best-of-five series, with each team winning all of its home games. The difference is that Real had Game 5 on its home floor after securing a higher seed, and that home advantage paid dividends. However, *Los Blancos* went on to lose the championship game to Maccabi Electrica Tel Aviv, falling 86-98 in overtime.

Then, in 2015, Real got one over Olympiacos once again, this time in the championship game in Madrid, Spain after winning 78-59. With that victory, *Los Blancos* grabbed their ninth EuroLeague title. Coach Bartzokas was not in charge of the Reds at that time and Papanikolaou had departed the club after the 2013 triumph, but Sloukas, Llull, Fernandez and Rodriguez were all key contributors that day.

In the years following that matchup, Real and Olympiacos have only ever faced off in the regular season, with the record between the two over that period standing at 8-6 in Real's favor. What's more, the Reds have gone 4-2 at home since the 2015 championship game, including a 74-68 win over *Los Blancos* in Piraeus last season.

On that occasion, just two Olympiacos players got into double figures – Vezenkov with 16 points and Tyler Dorsey with 12 – but it found a way to largely keep Real quiet, as only ex-Reds guard Nigel Williams-Goss and Walter Tavares found joy; the former finished with 16 points, while the latter had 15.

Los Blancos began a new era with fresh faces triumphantly as they overcame Efes. They journey to a buoyant Olympiacos outfit following a thumping win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Olympiacos Piraeus v Real Madrid - Round 2 - Highlights

Fast-forward to this upcoming game and two of the players that shined in Piraeus last year, Dorsey and Williams-Goss, will not be on the floor. Dorsey left for pastures new last summer, while Williams-Goss has a fever and has not made the trip to Greece. Real is also without Sergio Rodriguez and Alberto Abalde due to injury, but Gabriel Deck could feature after last playing in Round 16. Fernandez has also flown to Greece for this one after recovering from an injury, so he could make his second appearance of the season, following his almost 17-minute outing against LCLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 15.

For Olympiacos, Sloukas seems set to return following his absence against Virtus Segafredo Bologna last Friday night, while Vezenkov is likely to be in better shape after dealing with flu during a 22-point, 10-rebound night in Italy one week ago. Those two were vital when the Reds won in Madrid earlier this season, and they will have to perform well again if their team is to win this Friday night.

In fact, many EuroLeague fans may be taken back to 2013 at certain points in the game, as Coach Bartzokas, Sloukas and Papanikolaou are on the Olympiacos side of the divide, whereas Llull and Fernandez are on the other. It just adds another layer to an already mouth-watering contest.

A great spectacle often takes place whenever Olympiacos and Real face off, and with so much on the line, that is likely to be the case once again. So, whatever plans you have, cancel them and make sure you're available to watch this epic battle at 20:00 CET. It should be a lot of fun!

Olympiacos, Real Madrid face off in a top-of-the-table matchup

Olympiacos Piraeus v Real Madrid (2023-01-20T19:00:00.000Z)

Wade Baldwin appeared to lose his momentum when he was sidelined with a hamstring injury for several weeks earlier this campaign, but the Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv guard bounced back from adversity in spectacular fashion to enjoy a memorable night in his team’s 87-74 home win over ALBA Berlin in Round 20.

Having racked up a career-high of 33 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds, coupled with a block and a steal, the 26-year-old became the first EuroLeague player to match at least that tally since star center Nikola Vujcic [accomplished the figures in the 2006-07 season](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2006-07/lottomatica-roma-maccabi-elite/E2006/113/#boxscore) with Maccabi.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">List of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> players to score at least 33 points, grab 3 rebounds, dish 6 assists, get a steal and block a shot:<br><br>2006-07 🇭🇷 Nikola Vujcic<br>2022-23 🇺🇸 Wade Baldwin IV 👈</p>&mdash; Darius Garuolis (@DariusGaruolis) <a href="https://twitter.com/DariusGaruolis/status/1616188877089247236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Baldwin’s feat is all the more impressive given that Jalen Adams was sidelined for the game through illness while starting point guard Lorenzo Brown limped off midway through the first quarter with what looked like an ankle injury and sat out the rest of the contest.

That threw Iftah Ziv into the fray with playmaking duties and catapulted Baldwin into the spotlight, as he produced a stellar performance after another big personal night in Round 19, when he posted 21 points in the 88-86 road loss at Panathinaikos Athens.

Baldwin went from strength to strength against ALBA. With Brown out for the count, he scored 12 points in a rugged first half that Maccabi won 38-28. Then, he exploded in the third quarter, netting 13 points to keep his team in the driver's seat.

Wade Baldwin Iv (33 points) Highlights vs. ALBA Berlin, 01/19/2023

Wade Baldwin highlights vs ALBA Berlin

Baldwin scored the opening 5 points of the quarter for the hosts and then drained another three-pointer to fend off the visitors, who kept coming at Maccabi and reduced an early 28-10 deficit to single digits several times, most notably midway in the fourth quarter (67-60), with Baldwin taking a brief respite earlier in the period as he was on 3 personal fouls.

ALBA threatened to turn the match on its head and Maccabi head coach Oded Kattash sent Baldwin right back into the heat of battle.

The man of the match responded with a bang, sinking a pair of clutch mid-range jumpers and then burying 4 free throws down the stretch, propelling Maccabi to a win that kept it firmly in the playoffs picture.

Baldwin earned heaps of praise from all around, none more so than from his teammate Darrun Hilliard.

"You can tell by the system we run and the type of player that Wade is, he’s had some big nights for us and we count on him for that,” Hilliard said after the game. "He is more \[than\] capable of doing that so I am not surprised. He could have gone for 40 \[points\] if he didn't take so many threes. No one on that court could guard him. Wade is the type of player who will do whatever he sets his mind to, he is that good."

Game Videos

Maccabi’s head coach Oded Kattash also highlighted Baldwin’s immense contribution with Brown out injured. "For a time, we were without Wade and Lorenzo took more on himself, a lot more. And today we saw when we lost Lorenzo that Wade did more and Wade had a great game," Kattash said.

Baldwin himself stayed humble and credited his teammates, who went the extra mile to make sure Maccabi made the home-court advantage count.

“I felt good, especially seeing my first three go in. 0 for 13 in my last attempts, so it was good to get a couple today," said Baldwin, who shot 4-for-8 from three-point range against ALBA.

"Everybody stayed together, we made shots, we had guys contribute all over the bench. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Rafi \[Menco\], he hit a couple of big threes and a left-handed floater. We’ve had guys come in and impact the game in various ways. Lorenzo went down and other guys stepped up."

Game News

Wade Baldwin delivered big for shorthanded Maccabi

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v ALBA Berlin (2023-01-19T19:05:00.000Z)

Rokas Jokubaitis has largely had to accept a more reduced role in FC Barcelona's offense this season, but on Thursday night at Buesa Arena, he was one of the key cogs as his team beat Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 78-85.

 

In Round 20, the winner of the 2022 EuroLeague Rising Star Award played his third-highest number of minutes with 22:55, while he also tied his season high for points with 13, which he set in Round 18 during a win at LCLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.

The best plays of Rokas Jokubaitis during FC Barcelona's 78-85 win at Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Rokas Jokubaitis's best plays vs. Baskonia

To close the first quarter on Thursday night, and with starting backcourt duo Nicolas Laprovittola and Tomas Satoransky on the bench, Jokubaitis scored 4 straight points to ensure that Barca was able to end the first 10 minutes level at 28-28.

 

Then, in the second quarter, Jokubaitis added to that by scoring 3 points, including 1 free throw, while he also grabbed 2 defensive rebounds and dished 3 assists. The Lithuanian guard proceeded to sit the majority of the third quarter before entering the final minutes, but he made his presence felt in the fourth, going 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and scoring a total of 6 points.

 

Satoransky is back available for Barca, which is good news, but Jokubaitis's 13-point night is also a welcome sight for head coach Saras Jasikevicius.

Rokas Jokubaitis stepped up to help Barcelona beat Baskonia

Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v FC Barcelona (2023-01-19T19:30:00.000Z)

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv added another weapon to its frontcourt on Thursday evening when it signed big man Suleiman Braimoh for the remainder of the season. Braimoh (2.03 meters, 33 years old) will help fill the void created by the hand injury to Alex Poythress. He arrives from Turkish side Tofas Bursa, where he averaged 8.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the Turkish League and 8.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Basketball Champions League.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/CAVmTFUeSk">https://t.co/CAVmTFUeSk</a></p>&mdash; Maccabi Tel Aviv BC (@MaccabitlvBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaccabitlvBC/status/1616185680073265178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Braimoh should adjust quickly to life at Maccabi as he has played in Israel previously as well as under Maccabi head coach Oded Kattash. He played parts of two seasons under Kattash at Hapoel Jerusalem and also played for Hapoel Eilat. Braimoh has also played professionally in the United States, Japan, Qatar, Mexico, New Zealand, Germany, Russia, France and Spain.

"He is a player who can play in several positions and will bring us toughness and experience," Kattash said. "He has an amazing character, he is a good teammate and, of course, I know him well. As we know, he is also familiar with the Israeli League and in light of all these reasons we came to the conclusion that this is the player that suits us at this stage."

Maccabi adds Braimoh to its frontcourt

Plagued by a series of injury problems, Valencia Basket has sometimes struggled to find 12 players for its roster in recent weeks. But the Spanish team has still strung together an impressive three-game winning run after downing Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 89-81 on Thursday, and to make things even better the options available to Coach Alex Mumbru are starting to grow.

A key absentee has been Chris Jones, who leads the team with averages of 14.4 points and 5.0 assists per game, but missed Rounds 12, 14, 16, 18 and 19 through a persistent knee injury. On Thursday night, though, Jones returned to lead his team from the backcourt and looked sharp as he contributed 13 points and 4 assists. Crucially, Jones was able to play more than 22 minutes – second-highest in the team – and stay strong right until the end, sealing the win with the final basket of the game as he drove past Dante Exum, scored with a foul and converted the free throw.

Another player returning to action was the dynamic Jared Harper, who had missed the previous two games through injury but is now healthy again and helped his team with 14 minutes against Partizan, providing an injection of energy whenever it was needed. 

Although Sam Van Rossom and Martin Hermannsson remain sidelined, Jones and Harper will soon be receiving more help in the backcourt: among the spectators in La Fonteta on Thursday night was Shannon Evans, who on Friday will be officially presented as a new Valencia player after joining from Real Betis. Evans has been sensational in the Spanish league this season, averaging a competition-high 21.0 points and 5.5 assists per game, and the 28-year-old should add another dimension to a Valencia attack which is already functioning very well with 81, 83 and 89 points scored in the last three games.

Jones's return and Evans's arrival strengthen Valencia’s options

Valencia Basket v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2023-01-19T19:45:00.000Z)

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv forced ALBA Berlin into submission thanks to excellent shooting and strong defense on Thursday night at Menorah Mivtachim Arena. The hosts were led by an inspired performance from guard Wade Baldwin, who scored 21 of his career-high 33 points in the second half to help the home team to an 87-74 victory, which kept it firmly on course to reach the playoffs.

Maccabi overpowered the visitors in shooting from two-point range, where it made 20 of 41 shots (48.8%) whereas ALBA made only 12 of 31 (38.7%). Baldwin can take the lion’s share of the credit for that too, having sank 8 of 13 shots from mid-range while he also drained 4 of 8 from beyond the arc, capping a dazzling display with 6 assists.

With starting point guard Lorenzo Brown limping off injured midway through the first quarter, Maccabi did a good job keeping the turnovers down, having given the ball away just 9 times to ALBA’s 11.

The visitors actually out-rebounded the hosts (42-41) and had more assists (19-13), but Maccabi head coach Oded Kattash pointed out that in addition to ALBA's size, the other reason the visiting team was able to take 18 offensive rebounds was that Maccabi's defense forced so many missed shots. ALBA managed to make only 11 of 35 three-point shots (31.4%), while Maccabi sank 13 of 29 from downtown (44.8%).

Maccabi outshot ALBA from all over 

When it was announced that Jan Vesely would be unavailable shortly before FC Barcelona's game at Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, it left the visitors without its starting center. Given that Baskonia was 8-1 at Buesa Arena and Markus Howard was making his return from injury, it was a sudden boost for the hosts.

 

But, Barca ended up setting a season high for offensive rebounds with 18 in a 78-85 win, which moved it level with Turkish Airlines EuroLeague leader Real Madrid on 13 victories. Nikola Mirotic and Oscar Da Silva grabbed 3 offensive rebounds apiece, while Sertac Sanli, Nikola Kalinic, Tomas Satoransky and Kyle Kuric had 2 each. The other player who recorded an offensive rebound was James Nnaji, who had 1.

 

Importantly for Barca, it was able to capitalize on its work on the offensive glass. From its 18 offensive rebounds, the visitors were able to score 13 second-chance points. On a night where Baskonia grabbed just 17 defensive rebounds, this proved to be the key in Barca coming away with the win.

Barcelona overcame Vesely absence to dominate on the glass

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting between direct rivals Valencia Basket and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, one of the big questions would be which dominant big man – Bojan Dubljevic or Mathias Lessort – would exert the greater influence. In the end, the answer was more emphatic than could have been expected: the night belonged to Dubljevic.

Lessort was the first to strike, hammering home his team’s first points with a fierce putback slam and soon adding another dunk in an early statement of intent – although Dubljevic also got himself moving with 5 fast points, ensuring Partizan did not run into a big early lead. The second quarter saw Lessort get into foul trouble, minimizing his impact for the remainder of the half, while Dubljevic scored 4 more points in a 6-0 run.

But it was midway through the third period that Dubljevic really asserted himself, at exactly the time that Valencia needed it. Partizan launched a 7-0 run to make it 58-55, the closest the score had been since the first quarter before Dubljevic decided enough was enough. He ended the run from the foul line, dished an assist to James Webb, grabbed a great steal and finished it with a dunk, and finished his personal tour de force with a defensive rebound. In the space of 2 minutes do-it-all-Dubi had drawn a foul, scored, assisted, stolen the ball and rebounded…and his team’s lead was looking healthy again.

It was the same story in the final period when Partizan – by this time without Lessort after he advanced to 5 fouls – again pulled it back to a 3-point game. Dubljevic had been resting on the bench but made up for lost time when he was reintroduced by immediately grabbing an offensive board and forcing it home with a foul for a three-point play. That changed the momentum back toward Valencia, and a third consecutive win was duly secured. 

And with 20 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and a PIR of 25 in 18 minutes on the floor, the club’s all-time leading scorer Dubljevic was the main factor in the triumph.

Do-it-all Dubljevic dominated Lessort

Virtus Segafredo Bologna pulled out a 74-64 win over Panathinaikos Athens with its best defensive effort in weeks. Precisely, in two months.

Virtus had not held any opponent under 73 points since keeping EA Emporio Armani Milan and Valencia Basket to 59 points in back-to-back games in mid-November. In its last three home games, Virtus allowed at least 85 points in each.

However, on Thursday night against Panathinaikos, Virtus kept the visitors' offense in check. The hosts kept the Greens to just 11 points in the first quarter and 13 in the fourth. And nothing was more important than a 14-0 fourth-quarter run over a span of 5 and a half minutes, which turned a 55-57 deficit into a 69-57 lead with 2 minute to go, deciding the outcome of the game.

Virtus held the EuroLeague's top scorer Dwayne Bacon to just 8 points on 1-for-7 three-point shooting.

But a segment that really kept Virtus's defense at a high level throughout the night was the rebounding. Virtus not only finished the game with a 40-28 advantage on the glass, but it allowed just 6 offensive rebounds against a team that missed 36 field goals.

Virtus turned to defense to hold off the Greens

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Panathinaikos Athens (2023-01-19T19:30:00.000Z)