With Paris's trip to Hapoel rescheduled for March 3, four games are in the books from Thursday night
Game Center: Home teams deliver a clean sweep in Friday’s five games
Članak
7 Min čitanja
Friday, January 9
Zalgiris Kaunas 99-67 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
Zalgiris returned to winning ways by downing Crvena Zvezda 99-67 at home in Round 21 on Friday. Zalgiris improved to 12-9 in the standings after recording its seventh home victory of this EuroLeague season. Meanwhile, Zvezda dropped to 11-10, collecting its sixth loss in the last eight games.
Azuolas Tubelis led the winners with 17 points. Sylvain Francisco had 15, Maodo Lo and Arnas Butkevicius each added 12 while Moses Wright and Deividas Sirvydis got 10 apiece for Zalgiris. Chima Moneke led Zvezda with 18 points on 6-of-6 two-pointers, but none of his teammates joined him in double digits. Zalgiris led 47-28 at halftime, boosted its lead to 60-36 midway through the third quarter and did not find much trouble to seal the victory long before the final buzzer.
Olympiacos Piraeus 95-80 FC Bayern Munich
Olympiacos got back to winning ways by beating Bayern 95-80 on Friday night at Peace and Friendship Stadium. Riding some momentum after two straight wins, the guests started strong and took a 26-34 lead early in the second quarter. Yet, Tyson Ward sparked an Olympiacos comeback that saw the Reds take a 49-47 edge at halftime. The hosts hit the ground running in the second half and held Bayern to 14 points in the third quarter to open a 70-61 lead heading into the fourth. The German side responded with a late 2-9 run that brought them within 85-78, but Tyler Dorsey and Sasha Vezenkov finished the job in the closing stages.
Vezenkov went 10-for-12 from the field to bag a team-high 25 points, while Nikola Milutinov paired his 14 points with 8 rebounds. A few days after scoring a career-high 37 points against Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Andreas Obst bagged 21 to pace the visitors.
FC Barcelona 88-70 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Barca notched its 13th successive win against Partizan dating back to 2010 and improved to 14-7 this season after overcoming a slow start as Toko Shengelia marked his milestone 300th EuroLeague game in style. The Catalan side trailed 13-20 after the first quarter as Partizan’s physical defense generated 4 steals and the visitors shot 10-of-14 from inside in the opening 10 minutes. The tide turned late in the second quarter and early in the third as the hosts put together a 17-0 run to lead 48-35, and from there on there was only going to be one winner. A strong second half saw Barcelona surge ahead 77-60 in the home straight and the home team ultimately cruised to its seventh win in the last nine games, while Partizan dropped to 6-15 after a sixth straight loss.
Willy Hernangomez paced Barca on 16 points and 8 boards as Jan Vesely added 14, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor, while Shengelia added 13 in a flowing team effort. At the other end, Duane Washington netted a game-high 20 points but he turned out to be the only player in double figures among a disjointed Partizan outfit.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 87-74 Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Milan rallied from 14 points down to sweep the double round with a thrilling 87-74 victory over Efes and commemorate the 90th anniversary of the club. Milan came up with a strong second half, putting together a 23-4 run spanning the final two quarters to improve to 11-10. Armani Brooks buried 7 three-pointers – including 4 in a row in the fourth quarter – for a career-high 31 points, Zach LeDay had 15 points, and Leandro Bolmaro picked up 12 points and 4 assists in his first game since Round 15.
Efes scored just 8 points in the third quarter and fell to 6-15 with a fifth straight loss. Saben Lee was strong in his second game with the club with 19 points, while Nick Weiler-Babb contributed 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in the loss.
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 78-73 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Baskonia staved off a valiant ASVEL team to earn the 78-73 victory on Friday night. Despite taking control early, Paolo Galbiati’s side allowed the visitors into the contest in the third quarter, but made crucial buckets to jump ahead when it mattered down the stretch. The result moves Baskonia to 8-13, while lowly ASVEL slips to 6-15 and remains winless in 11 attempts on the road.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot starred for the home team, putting on a 21-point scoring performance. Kobi Simmons and Trent Forrest also finished in double figures with 10 and 11 points, respectively, while every active player marked the scoring column in a true team display. Eugene Omoruyi commanded the glass, logging 8 boards. Bastien Vaultier was one of five ASVEL players to finish in double-digit scoring with 14 points, followed by Paul Eboua with 12, Shaquille Harrison and Glynn Watson with 11 each, and Mbaye Ndiaye with 10.
Thursday, January 8
Dubai Basketball 92-81 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Dubai ground out an impressive home win over champs Fenerbahce after big man Kenan Kamenjas came off the bench to produce a monster double-double of 20 points and 15 boards. The hosts led throughout the titanic clash and fended off a Fenerbahce rally as the visitors came up with a 0-10 run that closed the gap to 73-69 early in the fourth. Dubai improved to 10-11 after bouncing back from two successive defeats while Fenerbahce dropped to 13-7 after seeing it’s four-game winning streak snapped.
Livewire McKinley Wright also shined for the hosts on 22 points after shooting 9-of-11 from inside as he pulled all the strings in back court. Dwayne Bacon chipped in with 15 points, Mfiondu Kabengele netted 14 and Justin Anderson added 11. At the other end, Wade Baldwin paced Fenerbahce on 21 points while Talen Horton-Tucker scored 15 and Mikael Jantunen amassed 13.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 84-71 Virtus Bologna
Panathinaikos got back to winning ways by defeating Virtus 84-71 on Thursday night at Telekom Center Athens. A low-scoring affair in the opening stages was followed by a 14-2 run from the hosts, who took a 23-15 lead into the second quarter. Virtus responded with a 2-10 surge, trimming down the deficit to 39-33 at halftime, but Panathinaikos tightened up its defense and pulled away in the fourth quarter to put the game to bed.
Having grabbed its first home win in three games, the Greens improved their record to 13-8. Meanwhile, Virtus suffered its first loss in three duels, dropping to 10-11. Kendrick Nunn paced Panathinaikos with 21 points, while Richaun Holmes paired his 16 points with 9 rebounds. Carsen Edwards led all scorers with 24 points and Matthew Morgan scored 12 in a losing effort.
Valencia Basket 92-101 AS Monaco
Monaco claimed a share of first place by downing Valencia 92-101 for its fifth straight win. Darius Thompson scored 7 early points to send Valencia ahead, but 8 points in less than a minute from Nikola Mirotic kept Monaco close, 28-26, at the end of the first. Three fast baskets from Jaron Blossomgame sparked a 2-11 run, sending the visitor ahead, 42-53, at the interval. Monaco stretched the lead as high as 14 points in the third quarter, which ended with Valencia fighting back to 70-76. But Nemanja Nedovic opened the final frame with 11 points in less than 2 minutes, restoring control which Monaco never lost.
It was another hugely impressive collective performance from Monaco, led by a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists from Mike James. Alpha Diallo top scored with 17 points, Nedovic netted 16, Kevarrius Hayes scored 15, Blossomgame added 14 and Mirotic scored 13. Valencia was paced by 18 points from Kameron Taylor while Thompson added 17, Jean Montero scored 15 and Nate Reuvers added 12. The teams are now tied near the top of the standings with 14-7 records, but Monaco holds the head-to-head advantage after also winning at home earlier in the season.
Real Madrid 98-86 Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
Real Madrid recorded its fifth consecutive home victory by downing Maccabi 98-86 in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Real improved to 13-8 in the standings while Maccabi dropped 8-13 and is now on a three-game losing streak. Real center Walter Tavares became the EuroLeague's all-time leading rebounder and finished the game with 2,016 boards.
Mario Hezonja paced the winners with 16 points. Facu Campazzo added 15, Trey Lyles and Andres Feliz each had 12, Gabriel Deck got 11 while Tavares pulled down 11 rebounds for Real, which trailed 45-47 near halftime. TJ Leaf led Maccabi with 15 points. John DiBartolomeo added 14, Iffe Lundberg 12, Jimmy Clark 11 and Jaylen Hoard 10 for the visitors. Real improved its defense after the break, allowing 39 points and holding Maccabi to just 4-of-18 two-point shooting (22.2% 2FG) in the second half, enough to get control of the game and keep it until the final buzzer.