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Game Center: ASVEL, Bayern win on the road; Virtus stuns Barcelona
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Friday, December 20
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 86-77 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Efes grabbed its third consecutive victory, and fourth straight at home, by topping Partizan 86-77 at the Basketball Development Center in Round 17 on Thursday. Efes improved to 10-7 in the standings while Partizan dropped to 7-10. Ercan Osmani paced the winners with a career-high 25 points. Rodrigue Beaubois scored 12 while Shane Larkin, Jordan Nwora and Darius Thompson each had 11 for the Efes. Thompson added 10 assists for a double-double. Tyrique Jones led Partizan with 23 points. Sterling Brown netted 15 while Duane Washington had 10 for the guests.
Zalgiris Kaunas 72-78 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
ASVEL continued its charge up the standings with another road win as it held off Zalgiris 72-78 at Zalgirio Arena on Friday night. This win, which was ASVEL's third straight and fifth in the last six games, improved the team to 8-9, while Zalgiris dropped to 10-7, a win behind the league leaders. ASVEL led for the majority of the night and never allowed the hosts to get closer than 4 points in the fourth quarter. Melvin Ajinca and Theo Maledon each scored 17 points, Paris Lee netted 12 and Nando De Colo added 11 points. Sylvain Francisco poured in 22 points for the hosts, while Deividas Sirvydis scored 10.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna 86-81 FC Barcelona
Virtus finished the first half of the regular season on a high note by winning a back-and-forth battle 86-81 over Barcelona in the first home game under new coach Dusko Ivanovic. The fourth quarter featured 12 lead changes and four ties, with Virtus scoring the final six points for its second victory in three games under its new play-caller for a 4-13 record, including 2-7 at home. Isaia Cordinier had a night to remember with a career-high 24 points to go with 6 rebounds and 7 assists for a career-high 38 PIR. With Toko Shengelia missing for a second straight game, Ante Zizic stepped up inside and added 12 points and 11 rebounds, Matt Morgan scored 10 points and Alessandro Pajola tallied 9 points and 7 assists. Barcelona has now dropped six of the last eight games for a 9-8 record. Jabari Parker led the way with 21 points while Kevin Punter collected 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Willy Hernangomez chipped in 14 points.
Olympiacos Piraeus 90-85 ALBA Berlin
Olympiacos scraped a labored 90-85 home win over ALBA and improved to 11-6 in the EuroLeague after a late rally allowed the Greek side to force the final twist, as the German outfit dropped to 3-14 despite a valiant effort. Evan Fournier paced Olympiacos with a game-high 23 points and big man Moustapha Fall added 18 for the Greek side, which completed a perfect double-round week with a second successive home win after beating Virtus on Wednesday. Sasha Vezenkov netted 17 points, including crucial free throws in the final minute, while Shaquielle McKissic chipped in with 10 for the hosts, who benefited from 14 offensive boards. At the other end, Matt Thomas led ALBA on 19 points while Yanni Wetzell and Trevion Williams posted 13 apiece for the visitors.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 81-73 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Crvena Zvezda got back to winning ways by downing Maccabi 81-73 at Belgrade Arena on Friday night. With this win, Zvezda finished the first half of the regular season with a winning record, 9-8, while Maccabi dropped to 4-13. Zvezda led by 15 at halftime but Maccabi opened the second half with a 0-17 run. However, Joel Bolomboy and Yago Dos Santos carried the team after that, and with a little help from Rokas Giedraitis, Zvezda pulled away again. Bolomboy finished with 17 points and Yago paired 15 points with 7 assists in a victory. Roman Sorkin had 21 points and 9 rebounds, Levi Randolph scored 16, and Jaylen Hoard collected 14 points plus 11 rebounds in a loss.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 78-79 FC Bayern Munich
In a thriller that went down to the final shot, Bayern grabbed its third road win of the season – and its first at Unipol Forum since December 2018 – by edging Milan 78-79 in Round 17 on Friday. Bayern improved to 11-6 in the standings while Milan dropped to 9-8. Carsen Edwards led the winners with 25 points. Devin Booker added 23 while Nick Weiler-Babb had 10 and 12 assists for Bayern. Nikola Mirotic paced Milan with 18 points. Zach LeDay added 14, Fabien Causeur had 13 while Josh Nebo and Neno Dimitrijevic each got 11 for the hosts.
Thursday, December 19
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 104-69 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Panathinaikos blew away visiting Baskonia in the Round 17 opener to improve to 10-7, while the Spanish side dropped to 7-10 after Kendrick Nunn paced the home team with 26 points and a career-high 9 assists. The game was marred by a serious injury to Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort, who landed awkwardly early in the second half and appeared to have injured his ankle. Lorenzo Brown added 18 points for Panathinaikos. At the other end, Chima Moneke scored 16 points for Baskonia.
Real Madrid 94-72 AS Monaco
Real Madrid rounded out a perfect double-round week by thrashing Monaco in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Real improved to 8-9 in the standings while Monaco dropped to 11-6. Dzanan Musa led the winners with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Mario Hezonja added 13 points. Mike James paced Monaco with 19 points.