A six-game slate follows on Friday
Game Center: Maccabi, PAO keep rolling; Fener, Real Madrid bounce back
Makale
8 Dk okuma
Thursday, December 18
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 85-82 Valencia Basket
Maccabi inched closer to the playoff picture by extending its longest winning streak of the season to four games by surviving against Valencia, winning 85-82 to sweep the double-round week. Valencia opened an eight-point lead in the first quarter, but Maccabi was up by six after the first 20 minutes. The hosts extended the cushion to 10 points in the third quarter and led by 12 points with under 5 minutes to play. Maccabi fell apart down the stretch and allowed Valencia to make it a one-possession game before holding on for the win.
Maccabi improved to 7-10 thanks to Lonnie Walker pacing five players in double figures with 14 points. Iffe Lundberg added 12 points and 7 assists, and Jimmy Clark and TJ Leaf both scored 11 points. Valencia saw its five-game winning streak snapped as it fell to 11-6, despite Kameron Taylor’s 15 points and 14 points from Brancou Badio.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 93-82 Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv
Panathinaikos ended the double-round week in style by beating EuroLeague leader Hapoel 93-82 on Thursday night at Telekom Center Athens. A first half of runs saw an inspired Hapoel take a 41-45 lead at halftime, but Panathinaikos tightened up its defense in the second half and held the visitors to 36 points to grab a second straight victory. The hosts got back to winning ways in Athens and improved their record to 11-6, with Hapoel snapping its three-game winning streak and dropping to 12-5.
Unsurprisingly, Kendrick Nunn led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Cedi Osman, who bagged 17. Tyler Ennis paced Hapoel with 16 points and Antonio Blakeney netted 15, with Elijah Bryant and Collin Malcolm scoring 14 each.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 72-87 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Fenerbahce coasted to a 72-87 victory at Allianz Cloud on Thursday night, improving to 10-6 while Milan dropped to 9-8. Bonzie Colson produced a flawless individual performance and the visitors enjoyed a sound shooting night from downtown.
Fenerbahce took advantage of Milan’s jittery start on offense and conjured a 2-9 lead before the hosts hit back with a 7-0 run to draw level. Powered by ironclad defense and some good shooting from deep, the visitors responded with an 8-0 streak to surge ahead 11-19 at the end of the first quarter. Fenerbahce stayed in control through most of the second and led 32-40 at halftime thanks to Colson, who tormented Milan from long range. The hosts played catchup in the third and were able to slash the deficit to 55-56 ahead of the final 10 minutes thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Shavon Shields. That was as good as it got for Milan, though, as Fenerbahce pulled away into a 65-78 lead midway through the fourth and held on to close out the game.
Talen Horton-Tucker paced Fenerbahce on a game-high 23 points while the effervescent Colson sank 20, shooting 5-of-5 from downtown. Tarik Biberovic chipped in with 14 points and Wade Baldwin added 13 to round up a smooth team effort. At the other end, Armoni Brooks netted 18 points for Milan while Marko Guduric and Quinn Ellis scored 13 each.
Real Madrid 95-90 Paris Basketball
Real Madrid stayed strong at home to overcome Paris, 95-90, in a thriller on Thursday night. A back-and-forth first half saw Paris take an interval lead, 49-50, and the visitors stayed ahead until midway through the fourth quarter, when Real surged to a thrilling victory by dominating the final exchanges. The Spanish team improves to 10-7, while Paris drops to 5-12 after six straight losses.
Theo Maledon was the star of the show, leading the way with 21 points and also netting the one millionth point in EuroLeague history. He was supported by 16 points from Walter Tavares, while Trey Lyles scored 10 of his 14 in the final period. Paris was powered by 19 points from Jared Rhoden, while Yakuba Ouattara scored 14 and Sebastian Herrera (12), Lamar Stevens (11), Nadir Hifi (11) and Amath Mbaye (10) also scored in double digits.
Friday, December 19
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. Dubai Basketball (18:30 CET)
Efes (6-10) will look to make it two wins out of two this week by overcoming direct rival Dubai (7-9). The Turkish team made a perfect start under Pablo Laso by crushing Zalgiris, with the return of big man Vincent Poirier from injury making a big difference as he paired 14 points with 6 rebounds. He faces a good battle with the hugely consistent Filip Petrusev, who ranks fifth in the league with an average PIR of 19.8. In the backcourt, Dubai will hope McKinley Wright can stay hot after an astonishing performance – 26 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds – in Tuesday’s last-gasp loss to Maccabi, while Efes will be led by the playmaking of Nick Weiler-Babb, who dished 13 assists in Kaunas.
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (19:00 CET)
Two teams eager to bounce straight back meet in Kaunas with Zalgiris (9-7) welcoming Partizan (6-10). Partizan’s two-game winning streak was brutally snapped by a heavy home loss to Virtus, when 15 points from Sterling Brown was not enough to compensate for a team total of 20 turnovers. Zalgiris suffered a similarly tough night on Wednesday with a 23-point reverse against Efes, with nobody managing to score more than Nigel Williams-Goss’s 11 points. Shooter Deividas Sirvydis is among the home team players looking for an upturn in form after going 2-of-12 from three-point range in the last three games, while Jabari Parker will be hoping for an opportunity to shine after receiving no playing time for Partizan last time out.
AS Monaco vs. FC Bayern Munich (19:30 CET)
Bayern’s (5-11) seven-game road odyssey finally concludes with a tough trip to face Monaco (9-7). Both teams are looking for a revival, with Bayern’s losing streak reaching seven games after suffering a second consecutive one-point defeat at ASVEL on Wednesday. Monaco – one of five teams currently tied for sixth place – has slipped to two straight losses after suffering a poor night offensively earlier this week at Baskonia, where only Mike James (21 points) could score more than 10 points. Vassilis Spanoulis’s men particularly need to rediscover their long-range accuracy after going 4-of-19 from three-point range in that defeat, while Bayern’s chief challenge is to find better penetration after converting just 44.7% of its two-pointers in the loss at ASVEL.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (20:15 CET)
ASVEL (4-12) will seek its first road win of the season as it travels to face an Olympiacos (8-7) team hoping to emerge from a three-game losing slide. The French team could have to cope without Nando De Colo after he limped out of Wednesday’s win over Bayern, which saw fellow veteran backcourt star Thomas Heurtel step up to sink the late game-winning basket. Olympiacos will look to dominate physically through Nikola Milutinov and Sasha Vezenkov – respectively ranked first and second in the league in PIR – who combined for 37 points and 16 rebounds in Tuesday’s loss to Valencia. Staying at home with an extra day to recover and rest should work in the Reds’ favor, but ASVEL will feel it has nothing to lose.
FC Barcelona vs. Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (20:30 CET)
Red-hot Barcelona (11-5) hopes to extend its four-game winning streak with a visit from a Baskonia (6-10) aiming for a first road win. The hosts hope Will Clyburn continues his spectacular form after averaging 23.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in the last three games, while Baskonia will look for center Eugene Omuruyi to control the paint after debuting in Wednesday’s win over Monaco. That game also saw influential playmaker Trent Forrest consolidate his return from injury with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and Barca needs Tomas Satoransky to contain him. Watch out for a great duel between a pair of in-form scorers: Kevin Punter (20.8 points in the last four games) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who has scored between 18 and 21 points in seven games straight.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Virtus Bologna (20:45 CET)
Zvezda (9-7) is desperate to snap a three-game losing streak as it welcomes a Virtus team (8-8) targeting a perfect week in Belgrade. The Italian team was impressive in a big win at Partizan on Wednesday, when Derrick Alston maintained his form by knocking down 4-of-5 three-pointers – he now has five straight games with multiple triples. Injury-hit Zvezda’s latest loss came at Hapoel on Tuesday despite Jared Butler maintaining his strong form by pouring in 27 points, and the host will look for better ball circulation after only recording 11 assists in that game. These are two of the best defensive teams in the competition (Zvezda ranks second with 81.9 points per game allowed; Virtus fourth with 82.7 points), and this could become an intense physical battle.