Nine Round 2 games are spread over three days, from Wednesday until Friday.
At a glance: Istanbul derby highlights three days of Round 2 action
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Round 2 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague starts earlier than usual with a pair of games on Wednesday. This is your lowdown on all the upcoming action, including a must-watch local derby on Thursday.
Wednesday, October 9
AS Monaco vs Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (19:00 CEST)
After starting the campaign with solid victories, Monaco and Maccabi will look to improve to 2-0 in a rematch of 2023’s thrilling playoffs series, won by Monaco in five games. Monaco, which is missing the injured Furkan Korkmaz, as well as Nick Calathes, will look for backcourt supremacy through Elie Okobo, who started the season well at both ends of the floor with 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals in the opening round win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. That game also featured a strong performance from big man Mam Jaiteh with 10 points and 7 boards, who faces a big battle with Jasiel Rivero after Maccabi’s center had 11 points and 9 boards to help defeat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. In the backcourt, Round 1 MVP Tamir Blatt will look to stay hot and Jordan Loyd will be motivated by facing his former teammates.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs Baskonia-Vitoria Gasteiz (20:00 CEST)
Two early pace-setters will look to grab a second straight win as Zvezda plays host to Baskonia. The Spanish team used a big fourth quarter to claim an opening week home victory against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, thanks to the usual scoring heroics from Markus Howard (17 points) and a solid debut from new backcourt teammate Trent Forrest (10 points, 4 assists). Another strong first game came from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot with 15 points, showing that Pablo Laso’s team has weapons all over the floor. Zvezda stayed strong on the road at Paris, in large part thanks to the long-range shooting skills of Nemanja Nedovic with 5-of-6 triples converted, and Codi-Miller McIntyre will be particularly keen to shine as he goes up against his former team.
Thursday, October 10
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (19:30 CEST)
One of the highlights of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season will get Thursday’s action started as Efes faces Fenerbahce for the Istanbul derby. The visiting team will have to cope without scoring star Scottie Wilbekin after he suffered long-term injury in the opening week win over Olympiacos Piraeus, and will hope that new signing Wade Baldwin can compensate by continuing his great start to the season after recording 19 points and 7 assists a week ago. Efes also got off to a winning start by winning at Virtus Segafredo Bologna, with 14 points and 9 boards from Dan Oturu showing the roster’s strength in the paint. Shane Larkin showed his shooting skills with a trio of three-pointers in that game, and slowing him down is key for Fenerbahce.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs Virtus Segafredo Bologna (20:00 CEST)
ASVEL is looking for its first win after being edged out by Maccabi last week, and the power of frontcourt duo Joffrey Lauvergne and Tarik Black will be important against the size of Virtus big men Ante Zizic and Toko Shengelia. In the backcourt, ASVEL will look for creativity and defense from Paris Lee, and hope that Nando De Colo can score the 14 points he needs to become only the second player (after Vassilis Spanoulis) to reach 4,500 EuroLeague points. Virtus was disappointed to score only 67 points in last week’s home loss to Efes, and needs to find much better offensive fluidity after only scoring 21 field goals in that game while committing 18 turnovers.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens vs FC Bayern Munich (20:15 CEST)
A pair of opening week winners go head-to-head as Panathinaikos welcomes Bayern. It will be the Greens’ first home game since lifting the EuroLeague title in May, so an electric atmosphere is guaranteed. But that shouldn’t faze a Bayern team which showed great resolve to claim a prestigious win over Real Madrid last week, with new signings Shabazz Napier and Johannes Voigtmann excelling. Panathinaikos eased to victory at ALBA Berlin to start the season in style, and the home team’s outstanding selection of guards – including home debutant Lorenzo Brown – will look to control the tempo and limit the effectiveness of Napier and Carsen Edwards. Another key confrontation will be between a pair of sweet shooting forwards, Konstantinos Mitoglou and Vladimir Lucic.
Real Madrid vs Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (20:45 CEST)
Two teams aiming to respond to opening week losses meet as Real hosts Partizan. The Spanish powerhouse was stunned by a fourth quarter collapse against Bayern, and coach Chus Mateo will be urging his players to show greater defensive consistency against Zeljko Obradovic’s new-look roster. Facundo Campazzo started the season in his usual whirlwind fashion with 19 points and 9 assists, and he faces a good matchup in Partizan’s EuroLeague newcomer Carlik Jones (6 assists in Round 1’s defeat at Baskonia). The battle in the paint will be fiercely contested as Real giants Walter Tavares and Serge Ibaka go up against visiting duo Brandon Davies and Tyrique Jones, who combined for 42 points in the loss in Vitoria.
Friday, October 11
Olympiacos Piraeus vs Zalgiris Kaunas (20:15 CEST)
After already claiming one heavyweight scalp by overcoming Barcelona last week, Zalgiris is looking to build more momentum with a trip to Piraeus. The visiting team will hope that former Olympiacos forward Ignas Bradzeikis (17 points and 5 rebounds against Barca) will return to haunt his old team. Sylvain Francisco also excelled in the Round 1 win with 19 points, but he faces a tough task in overcoming the Reds’ notoriously tough defense led by Thomas Walkup. Olympiacos is gunning for a first win of the season after being downed by Fenerbahce last week, and needs to improve its long-range shooting after making only 4 of its 20 three-point attempts. Sasha Vezenkov is sure to receive a big welcome in his first home game back with the Reds.
FC Barcelona vs ALBA Berlin (20:30 CEST)
Two teams chasing a first win meet at Palau Blaugrana as Barcelona welcomes ALBA. The Spanish side will look for better offensive production after only scoring 67 points in last week’s loss at Zalgiris, where sharpshooters Alex Abrines and Jabari Parker combined for just 2 of their 11 three-point attempts. Barca will give home debuts to young guard Juan Nunez and dynamic big man Chimezie Metu, who faces a good battle for supremacy at the rim with Khalifa Koumadje after the ALBA center claimed 13 rebounds in the opening round loss to Panathinaikos. ALBA’s playmaking duties will be led by Martin Hermannsson, who started the season strongly with 12 points and 9 assists and will now look to outshine Tomas Satoransky and Nico Laprovittola.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs Paris Basketball (20:30 CEST)
Paris faces its first ever EuroLeague road game with a trip to Milan. The Italian team is looking for a first win of the season after succumbing to Monaco in Round 1, and coach Ettore Messina will demand better interior defense after allowing the Roca Team to convert 26 two-point shots on 40 attempts (65%). Offensively, Milan will hope for another strong showing from new signing Armoni Brooks (16 points in Round 1) and more production from star forward Nikola Mirotic (9 points), while Josh Nebo is out through injury. For Paris, 16 points from backcourt star TJ Shorts wasn’t enough to overcome Zvezda last week, and backcourt teammate Maodo Lo will look for a big night against his old team.