Maccabi, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce and Real Madrid were all triumphant on Thursday night
Game Center: Three games in progress; Dubai wins at Efes; huge dubs for Zalgiris, Monaco
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Friday, December 19
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 76-80 Dubai Basketball
Dubai picked up its second road win of the season, holding on to a 76-80 win over Efes on Friday night. Dubai improved to an 8-9 record in its debut EuroLeague season, while Efes dropped to 6-11, losing for the sixth time in nine home games.
Dubai was down by 10 points in the third quarter as it did not make a single three-pointer until Davis Bertans knocked down three triples early in the fourth quarter to get Dubai in front. But it was McKinley Wright who closed out the deal, scoring 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, including all clutch baskets as the game went down to the wire.
Wright also dished a EuroLeague season-high 15 assists to lead Dubai, which also got 20 points and 7 rebounds from Mfiondu Kabngele and 14 points from Filip Petrusev. For Efes, in head coach Pablo Laso’s first home game, Nick Weiler-Babb, Rolands Smits and Rodrigue Beaubois each scored 12 points.
Zalgiris Kaunas 109-68 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Zalgiris improved to 10-7 and made amends for a crushing home defeat by Efes with a 109-68 demolition of visiting Partizan, as the Serbian side dropped to 6-11 after a second successive defeat this week.
The home side made a bright start and powered by tough defense which forced a lot of contested shots from Partizan, Zalgiris thrived on aggressive half-court pressure and carved out a massive 28-15 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The hosts kept their feet on the gas in the second and romped away into a 53-30 halftime lead, with Partizan looking completely at sea as big man Moses Wright dominated the paint at both ends, racking up 12 points and 6 boards. Relentless Zalgiris kept going at full throttle and led 82-47 ahead of the final 10 minutes, closing out the third quarter with a 7-0 run. There was no letting up from Zalgiris in the fourth quarter either, as the hosts opened up a staggering 97-57 advantage in the closing stages. The home fans were in raptures as the Lithuanian giant closed out the game in style, registering a club-record number of points and its biggest-ever win in Europe’s premier club competition.
Sylvain Francisco paced Zalgiris on a game-high 22 points, while Wright racked up 17 and 6 boards. Ignas Brazdeikis chipped in with 15 points and Nigel Williams-Goss added 12 to underline a smooth team effort. At the other end, big man Bruno Fernando stood out with 16 points and 4 boards for Partizan, while Duane Washington scored 17 points and Isaac Bonga netted 12.
AS Monaco 103-77 FC Bayern Munich
Monaco snapped a two-game losing streak and split the double round week by collecting a 103-77 home victory over Bayern, which ended its seven-game road trip with seven losses. Monaco used a 20-2 run to go from nine points down to up 28-19 and never gave up the lead, putting the game out of reach with a 10-2 start to the second half and added a 20-3 surge to make it 80-52 late in the third quarter.
Monaco improved to 10-7 overall and a 6-2 mark at home with seven players scoring in double figures. Elie Okobo scored 18 points, Nikola Mirotic had 16 points, Mike James totalled 14 points and 6 assists and Alpha Diallo chipped in 12 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Oscar da Silva scored 13 points to pace Bayern, which dropped to 5-11 and 1-8 on the road. Six of Bayern’s next seven games will be at home.
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.
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.