The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four gets underway on Friday, May 19, at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas Lithuania with a rematch from the 2022 playoffs and the always-magnetic El Clásico. Here's your quick guide to the semifinals.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. AS Monaco
The action tips off at 18:00 local time in Kaunas as regular season standings leader Olympiacos – gunning for its fourth EuroLeague title – takes on Final Four newcomer AS Monaco. Both teams had to go the distance in the playoffs, with Monaco overcoming Maccabi at home in Game 5 thanks to 21 points apiece from backcourt stars Mike James and Jordan Loyd. Olympiacos will look for defensive ace Thomas Walkup – who leads the league in steals with 1.8 per game – to disrupt Monaco's rhythm, and hope that Kostas Sloukas can continue his great form after averaging 14.6 points on 60.5% field goal shooting during thrilling playoffs series with Fenerbahce. Monaco, which has Donatas Motiejunas playing in his hometown, will also have to limit them influence of league leading scorer Sasha Vezenkov (17.2 ppg), who scored at least 17 points in four of the five games against Fenerbahce, and super-sub Shaquielle McKissic, the other Olympiacos double-digit scorer in the playoffs.