Round 14 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is highlighted by a crunch clash in the top four and an emotional homecoming for an iconic coach. Here's your quick guide to Thursday and Friday's games.
Round 14: Tie-breakers highlight nine spicy showdowns
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Thursday, December 14
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. ALBA Berlin
Zvezda (4-9) hopes that home comforts can provide a respite from two narrow road losses as it hosts ALBA (2-11), which will battle to escape the bottom of the standings. Having allowed at least 83 points in each of the last six games, Zvezda will look to significantly improve that stat against ALBA's next-to-last offense (76.7 points per game). There's a huge disparity in rebounding between the teams, too, with Zvezda ranked fourth (36.7 boards per game) and ALBA 15th (31.6), so the visitors will need somebody to help Johannes Thiemann control the physical play of Joel Bolomboy and Luka Mitrovic.
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
After winning three straight at home, Partizan (7-6) is seeking a first road win since October as it travels to faltering Zalgiris (5-8) which fell twice in the double-round week. Struggling for offensive fluency, Zalgiris ranks 17th in assists with just 15.2 per game, a figure that won't be helped by the loss of point guard Lukas Lekavicius to injury – piling even more pressure on the shoulders of Keenan Evans. Partizan certainly has no problems of that nature, ranking second in scoring with 87.2 points per game. The Serbian team is particularly strong inside the paint, leading the league in two-point conversion rate (62.1%), helped by Alen Smailagic's 8.8 points per game on 68% shooting inside the arc.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
In a meeting of direct rivals on the edge of the playoffs places, Maccabi (7-6) hosts Efes (7-6) in Belgrade to break their part of a five-way tie for sixth place. Both teams have performed better offensively than defensively, with Efes ranked 15th for allowing 86.4 points per game and Maccabi 17th at 87.6. That could give plenty of scoring opportunities to a bunch of prolific shooters, with Shane Larkin as the current third-highest scorer in the league (17.7 ppg.) and Lorenzo Brown ranked second in assists (6.8 apg.). Efes has overcome injury problems to win three of its last four games with help from new signing Mike Daum, who drained 5 triples in a comeback victory at ALBA last time out.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz vs. Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Two in-form teams meet at Buesa Arena, where fourth-placed Baskonia (8-5) will look for a fourth straight win as it hosts third-placed Virtus (9-4). Baskonia will have to find a way of stopping its own former star, Toko Shengelia, who continued his magnificent season with 27 points in the Round 13 victory over Maccabi and leads the league with an average PIR of 22.3 per game. Fourth in that category is Baskonia's new hero, Chima Moneke (20.1 PIR), while Tadas Sedekerskis has more rebounds than any other player (8.4 rpg.), which will make the battle for inside dominance potentially spectacular. Long-range fireworks will come from the league's most prolific three-point shooter Markus Howard (3.5 triples per game), while Virtus's Marco Belinelli is also a major deep threat with 2.5 triples per night.
Real Madrid vs. FC Bayern Munich
Reigning champ Real (12-1) will seek to maintain its two-game lead at the top of the standings with a visit from Bayern (6-7) and a coach who knows the hosts as well as anybody. The spotlight will fall on Bayern coach Pablo Laso, who will return to face his former club for the first time in an official game since his glorious 11-year reign – which delivered two EuroLeague crowns – came to an end 18 months ago. Expect a fierce battle inside the paint as Real giant Walter Tavares is confronted by Serge Ibaka and Devin Booker, who respectively rank second and third in the league in rebounding (7.1 and 6.5 rpg.). Real leads the competition in 10 different performance parameters, but there could be nobody better than Laso to devise the perfect game plan against the players he knows so well.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs. Panathinaikos Aktor Athens
Two teams who lost both games in the double round week will look for a return to winning ways as ASVEL (2-11) hosts Panathinaikos (6-7) at spanking-new LDLC Arena to close Thursday's action. ASVEL playmaker Paris Lee, who has averaged 6.8 assists in the last four games, will look to dominate the backcourt against the team he represented last season. The Greens will hope Kendrick Nunn continues his excellent form after scoring 19, 13 and 24 points in the last three games, while Mathias Lessort is also in a sweet moment after scoring in double digits in six straight games. He faces a big battle with ASVEL's Joffrey Lauvergne, who is enjoying his best form of the season with averages of 18 points and 7.6 rebounds over the last five games.
Friday, December 15
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. AS Monaco
A battle between two teams with title ambitions takes place in Istanbul as Fenerbahce (6-7) welcomes Monaco (8-5) in the first game with Sarunas Jasikevicius at the helm of the Yellow Canaries. Saras took over for Dimitris Itoudis on Thursday. Under Itoudis, Fenerbahce had a perfect record at Ulker Sports and Event Hall (5-0). The new boss will look for continued leadership from Nigel Hayes-Davis, who is the only Fenerbahce player to have started every game and played all but 100 seconds of the team's Round 13 loss at Barcelona. Monaco has won three of the last four including a hard-fought road triumph at Zalgiris last time out, when Mike James once again asserted his importance with 25 points, supported by 12 plus 4 assists from backcourt partner Elie Okobo.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Valencia Basket
After getting back on track with a pair of victories in the double-round week, Valencia (7-6) has the tough task of going for three in a row with a trip to Olympiacos (7-6) in a showdown between two of the five teams tied for sixth place. Thomas Walkup has stepped up as the Reds' leader in recent weeks, scoring at least 14 points in four games straight and also dishing 7 assists to orchestrate the Round 13 victory over Bayern. Valencia's return to winning ways was propelled by Semi Ojeleye, who scored 17 and 16 points in respective wins over Zvezda and ASVEL, the latter of which saw the Spanish team's defense in synch to allow just 55 points. The Reds are 11-3 all-time against Valencia, but home teams have won this matchup the last five times, which means Valencia is aiming for its third straight victory in Piraeus, too.
FC Barcelona vs. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Barcelona (10-3) will look to maintain its grip on second place – and make it eight wins out of eight at home – with a visit from struggling Milan (4-9). The Italian team has lost three games straight and is set to be without injured former Barca star Nikola Mirotic, placing pressure on Johannes Voigtmann (7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds) and Nicolo Melli (6.2 points, 4.3 rebounds) to reproduce his repertoire of scoring and rebounding. Barca's most recent triumph, at home to Fenerbahce last week, was powered by 21 points and 9 rebounds from Willy Hernangomez, who has now scored at least 12 points in four straight games and provides a formidable tag-team big man pairing with the evergreen Jan Vesely.