This is the final round before the week-long FIBA break
Game Center: PAO moves into share of first; key wins for Zalgiris, Valencia, Fener, too
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Tuesday, November 25
Dubai Basketball 90-89 Paris Basketball
Dubai maintained its perfect record at Coca-Cola Arena with a 90-89 win over Paris in Tuesday’s early fixture. After a slow start to the game that saw Dubai fall behind by 17 points early in the second quarter, first Filip Petrusev and then McKinley Wright came to the fore to ensure Dubai improved to 6-7. Inside the final minute, a Justin Anderson triple and 4 made free throws by Wright put Dubai 90-86 ahead, before Nadir Hifi drained a three-pointer with the last play of the game to fix the 90-89 score. Paris dropped to 5-8 with this defeat, its second straight loss.
Wright had a career night with a personal-best 24 points, with 20 coming in the second half. Petrusev added 19 points, Anderson poured in 12, and Mfiondu Kabengele netted 11. For Paris, Derek Willis scored a career-high 22 points and Hifi and Justin Robinson both had 13 points apiece.
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 66-64 Virtus Bologna
Fenerbahce overcame Virtus at the Ulker Sports and Event Hall on Tuesday night, 66-64. The game got off to an incredibly cagey start, with both teams struggling mightily on offense, but locking in on the defensive side of the floor. The teams went back-and-forth in a low scoring first half, which finished 31-10 to the Black V. The game continued in similarly tense fashion in the third, with neither team able to open up any kind of significant gap. The game remained close until the nail-biting final moments, when a Nicolo Melli clinched the 2-point victory.
Wade Baldwin was the standout performer with 18 points to lead his team to victory. Devon Hall backed him up with 9 points of his own, all scored from beyond the arc. The result was tough on Bologna’s Matthew Morgan who offered a 13-point scoring punch from the bench.
The result completes a perfect, undefeated November for Fenerbahce, which now moves to 8-5 on the EuroLeague campaign. Virtus’s record falls to 6-7.
Zalgiris Kaunas 82-67 Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Zalgiris conjured a 20-2 run in the second half to engineer a comfortable win over Baskonia although the visitors led for three quarters of the contest, improving to 8-5 while the Spanish side dropped to 4-9.
Baskonia made a flying start and opened up a tangible lead early on, thriving on strong defense to take the first quarter 18-24 although Zalgiris hit back with a pair of late three-pointers. The visitors held firm in the second and maintained their advantage, keeping the home team to only 1 offensive board. Zalgiris beefed up its defense after the break and the teams were tied 54-54 at the end of the third quarter, setting up a thrilling home straight. There was no way back for Baskonia after the hosts hit top gear to carve out a 74-59 advantage midway through the fourth, ultimately coasting to an emphatic victory.
Sylvain Francisco shined with 23 points and 11 assists for Zalgiris, Azuolas Tubelis chipped in with 15 points and 6 boards while Ignas Brazdeikis netted 13 points. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot paced Baskonia on 18 points and Kobi Simmons scored 12.
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv 74-75 Real Madrid
Real Madrid edged Hapoel 74-75 in the first-ever EuroLeague clash between these two clubs on Tuesday night at Arena Botevgrad in Bulgaria. A tight back-and-forth affair saw the visitors secure a 36-39 lead at halftime. What followed was a stretch of runs in the third quarter, with the visitors maintaining a 58-60 advantage. Defenses took over in the closing quarter and Los Blancos were clinical enough to escape with their second road victory this season. Real Madrid improved its record to 7-6, with Hapoel dropping to 9-4.
Mario Hezonja led all scorers with 19 points, while Facundo Campazzo and Alberto Abalde netted 11 each. Chris Jones and Antonio Blakeney paced Hapoel with 14 points apiece, with Elijah Bryant bagging 13.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 91-69 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Panathinaikos made it four wins out of four – and took a share of first place – by blitzing Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, 91-69. Sterling Brown scored 14 points without a miss as Partizan edged the first quarter, 27-31, but Panathinaikos fought back with an 11-2 run to lead at the break, 48-44. The home team pulled further clear as Kendrick Nunn scored 8 straight points in a 21-0 third quarter run, easily deciding the outcome. The Greens improve to 9-4, while Partizan sinks to 4-9.
The outstanding Nunn topped the scoring with 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, also adding 4 assists and 7 rebounds, while Kenneth Faried repeatedly got the home fans on their feet with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Kostas Sloukas orchestrated to the tune of 10 assists, Niko Rogkavopoulos netted 13 points, and Juancho Hernangomez grabbed 15 rebounds. Brown led Partizan with 16 points, but nobody else managed double digits scoring in another feeble capitulation from the Serbian team.
Valencia Basket 90-67 FC Bayern Munich
Valencia will go into the national team break on a roll after beating Bayern 90-64 for its fifth straight home victory. The Spanish side took over the game with a 24-4 run spanning halftime to improve to 8-5, including 6-1 at home.
Valencia took the third quarter 27-12 and Brancou Badio led the way with 16 points while Jean Montero and Omari Moore both had 13 points and Darius Thompson chipped in 12 points and 4 assists. Bayern has dropped four in a row - following three straight wins - for a 5-8 record. This was the third of seven consecutive road games for Bayern, which was paced by Spencer Dinwiddie with 12 points.
Wednesday, November 26
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv vs EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (18:00 CET)
Returning to winning ways is the mission as struggling Maccabi (3-9) hosts a Milan team (6-6) with a new head coach, as Peppe Poeta officially replaced Ettore Messina on Monday. Both need defensive improvement after being on the receiving end of high-scoring defeats last week, and that has been the story of the season for a Maccabi team which has allowed more points than anyone else (94.0 per game). Hoping to profit from that weakness is a Milan offense powered by fit-again Zach LeDay, who will be desperate for a sustained run of fitness after only playing five games so far this season. At the other end, Jeffrey Dowtin stepped up with 18 points in last week’s loss at Virtus, and Maccabi will need him to deliver another strong performance against Milan’s rising star Quinn Ellis.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Olympiacos Piraeus (19:30 CET)
It might be a traditional ‘friendly’ red and white derby, but there will be maximum intensity as second-placed Zvezda (8-4) hosts third-placed Olympiacos (8-4). A game of stellar matchups all over the floor includes a big battle at power forward, with Chima Moneke (14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game) attempting to overcome Sasha Vezenkov (16.1 points, 7.3 boards). Fit-again Zvezda forward Jordan Nwora (18.9 points, 5.3 rebounds) will attempt to continue his spectacular season by outscoring a rejuvenated Evan Fournier, who hit a season-high 18 points to down Paris last week. A pair of do-it-all guards will attempt to control the tempo as Codi Miller-McIntyre faces Thomas Walkup, and the hosts will hope the shooting range of Donatas Motiejunas can unsettle the league’s leading rebounder, Nikola Milutinov (8.2 rebounds per night).
AS Monaco vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul (19:30 CET)
Monaco (7-5) will attempt to break into the top four by overcoming an injury-hit but dangerous Efes (5-7). With Shane Larkin joining PJ Dozier and Rodrigue Beaubois on the injury list, the Turkish team will have to show the same kind of defensive resilience – powered by the consistent inside presence of Ercan Osmani (12.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game) – that earned last week’s win over Barcelona. Efes also needs last season’s Best Defender award winner Nick Weiler-Babb to be at his best against all-time leading scorer Mike James, who masterminded last week’s easy win over ASVEL by combining 12 points with 7 assists. Monaco is the best team in the league at protecting the basketball (10.0 turnovers per night), so Efes will need great efficiency to grab a road win.
FC Barcelona vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (20:30 CET)
Xavi Pascual hopes to enjoy the first home game of his second stint in charge of Barcelona (7-5) with a visit from ASVEL (3-9). The French team, currently winless on the road, will want to play with pride after a historically bad performance last time out, losing 52-84 to Monaco with no player scoring more than 7 points. Barca is also looking to respond from a tough road loss at Efes, where veteran big man Jan Vesely continued his upsurge in form with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Fit-again ASVEL playmaker Thomas Heurtel is sure to receive a lively welcome as he faces his former club, and Barca dynamo Nico Laprovittola will look to win the battle of the backcourt by gathering more momentum in his return to full fitness.