Nine games are already in the books from Tuesday night
Game Center: Fenerbahce grabs impressive win at Virtus in Wednesday's only game
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Wednesday, January 21
Virtus Bologna 80-85 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
A shootout between Virtus Bologna’s Carsen Edwards and Fenerbahce’s Talen Horton-Tucker ended with the reigning champions grinding out an 80-85 win Wednesday night in Bologna. Edwards poured in 35 points in defeat – one shy of his career high – but Horton-Tucker’s career-best 28 proved decisive for a shorthanded Fenerbahce. Virtus led 47-40 at halftime, but Fenerbahce clamped down defensively in the third quarter, outscoring the hosts 13-25 to take a 60-65 lead into the fourth, where the teams scored 20 points apiece.
Playing without six rotation players, including starting point guard Wade Baldwin, Fenerbahce leaned heavily on Horton-Tucker, who also knocked down a career-high 4 three-pointers. Tarik Biberovic added all 15 of his points after halftime, while Nando De Colo chipped in 12. Edwards led all scorers with 35 for Virtus, with Derick Alston Jr. and Matt Morgan contributing 14 points each. The win lifted Fenerbahce to 15–7 on the season, while Virtus fell to 11–12, suffering just its third home loss of the campaign.
Tuesday, January 20
Olympiacos Piraeus 100-93 Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
Olympiacos grabbed its sixth victory in seven games by defeating Maccabi 100-93 at Peace and Friendship Stadium on Tuesday evening. Sasha Vezenkov netted 15 first-quarter points, with the hosts taking a 27-24 lead after 10 minutes. Olympiacos went on a 20-0 run in the second quarter, with Evan Fournier bagging 12 points for a 58-34 advantage at halftime.
Maccabi fought back in the second half and trimmed the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter, but Olympiacos was in control until the final whistle, hitting the 100-mark for the second game in a row. Having recorded its seventh straight victory against Maccabi, Olympiacos improved its record to 14-8. The visitors suffered their fourth consecutive loss on the road, dropping to 9-14.
Vezenkov led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. Nikola Milutinov paired his 13 points with 9 rebounds and Fournier registered 12 points and 9 assists. Roman Sorkin paced Maccabi with 21 points and Jeff Dowtin netted 15 – of which 14 were scored in the second half.
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv 71-66 Anadolu Efes Istanbul
After a hard-fought, physical showdown that came down to the final minute, Hapoel remained atop the standings by downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul 71-66 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hapoel improved to 16-6 with its third consecutive victory. Meanwhile, Efes lost its seventh in a row and dropped to 6-17.
Chris Jones led the winners with 16 points, Ish Wainright added 13 and Elijah Bryant scored 12 for Hapoel. Saben Lee netted 20 points for Efes, which led 35-45 early in the second half. PJ Dozier added 15 and Ercan Osmani had 10 for the visitors. With the game tied at 62-62, Chris Jones followed a fastbreak layup with a critical three-pointer that gave Hapoel a 67-63 lead with 24.4 seconds left. Jones added a pair of free throws to seal the outcome down the stretch.
AS Monaco 96-100 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
Crvena Zvezda took down the hottest team in the EuroLeague by beating Monaco 96-100 in overtime, as Jordan Nwora – who was 0-for-4 from deep through four quarters – hit two three-pointers to start the extra session (92-96) before Nikola Kalinic put the icing on the cake with a fastbreak layup (93-100). On Sasa Obradovic’s first return to Monaco since being appointed Crvena Zvezda head coach in October, he was able to exact some revenge against his former employer. Donatas Motiejunas, on loan at Crvena Zvezda from Monaco, finished with 9 points.
The star man for the Serbian side, however, was Ebuka Izundu. In 21 minutes, the EuroLeague rookie posted the first double-double of his career with 22 points and 12 rebounds, good for a PIR of 36 – all of which are career highs. Nwora added 18 points in the victory, Semi Ojeleye poured in 16, Codi Miller-McIntyre paired 8 points with 11 assists, and Chima Moneke had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Monaco was led by the 19 points of Alpha Diallo, followed by Mike James with 14, Elie Okobo and Jaron Blossomgame with 13 apiece, and Nikola Mirotic with 10.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 77-96 Zalgiris Kaunas
A couple of monster runs early in each half put Zalgiris out of sight as the Lithuanian side improved to 13-10 while ASVEL dropped to 6-17 after a fourth successive loss. Zalgiris opened the game with a 2-17 streak before the French team responded with a 12-0 run of their own, slashing the deficit to 41-45 at halftime.
Driven by the unstoppable big man Moses Wright, Zalgiris romped to a 2-18 streak in the third quarter to take an unassailable 55-75 lead ahead of the final 10 minutes. Zalgiris hit top gear and coasted to 59-86 in the closing stages as ASVEL had no reply for the visiting team’s free-flowing offense garnished by a flurry of fast break.
Frenchman Sylvain Francisco paced the visitors with 20 points and 6 boards while Wright chipped in with 18 and 6. Azoulas Tubelis added 14 points as Zalgiris sank 25-of-35 from inside (71.4 percent). At the other end, Thomas Heurtel stood out for ASVEL with a game-high 21 points and 6 assists and Edwin Jackson scored 13.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 93-74 Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Panathinaikos comfortably disposed of Baskonia on Tuesday at Telekom Center Athens. The 93-74 win moves the hosts to 14-9 for the season, while Baskonia slides to 8-15 as its two-game winning streak comes to an end. The Greens opened up a double-digit lead at the end of the opening quarter and never really looked back, swarming Baskonia on defense and punishing the visitors on the other end with confident shooting.
In the most compelling narrative of the night, Vassilis Toliopoulis led the way for Ergin Ataman’s men, adding 5 assists to his 21-point scoring performance. The breakout performance was particularly impressive, given his 1.5 point season average. Kostas Sloukas added 15 points for the winners, Richaun Holmes scored 12 and Alexandros Samodurov netted a career-high 11. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot paced Baskonia with 17 points.
FC Bayern Munich 63-67 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Partizan snapped a seven-game losing streak by downing Bayern 63-67 at SAP Garden. Partizan improved to 7-16, putting an end to its worst losing streak in the competition since 2012. Bayern dropped to 8-15 and saw its three-game home winning streak come to an end.
Cameron Payne led the winners with 16 points and 3 steals and Sterling Brown added 11 points for Partizan. Wenyen Gabriel paced Bayern with 13 points, Justinian Jessup scored 12 and Neno Dimitrijevic 10 for the hosts, who were without last-minute scratch Andreas Obst. It all came down to the final 4 minutes, in which Isaac Bonga and Tonye Jekiri stepped up to give Partizan a 58-67 lead already in the final minute. Bayern kept fighting but Partizan left Munich with the road victory.
Valencia Basket 98-84 Paris Basketball
Valencia got back to winning ways by overpowering Paris 98-84 at Roig Arena. The home team burst into an early double-digit advantage behind an electric Kam Taylor, and led by as many as 14 before Paris rallied to narrow the margin, 50-42, at halftime. A strong start to the third quarter looked like giving Valencia a comfortable win, and although Paris pulled it back to a single digit deficit inside the last few minutes there was never a serious threat of a comeback.
Taylor was outstanding throughout on his way to a career-high 28 points, while Neal Sako provided 12 points and 9 rebounds, and Jean Montero orchestrated the offense with 9 points and 8 assists. Paris was paced by 14 points and 9 assists from Justin Robinson, while Jeremy Morgan added 12. The win keeps Valencia near the top of the standings at 15-8, while Paris remains in the bottom half with a 7-15 record.
FC Barcelona 91-89 Dubai Basketball
Barcelona blew a 12-point fourth quarter lead, but beat Dubai 91-89 at home thanks to Dario Brizuela’s game winner with 2.3 seconds to play. The Spanish side led 79-67 going into the final period but fell behind only to win it on Brizuela’s heroics.
The win gives Barcelona a 15-8 record. including a 9-3 mark at home. Brizuela finished with 25 points and 4 assists while Kevin Punter had 20 points. Dubai has struggled all season to win away from home in falling to 10-13 overall and 2-10 on the road. McKinley Wright scored a career-high 29 points to go with 5 assists while Mfiondu Kabengele had 13 points.
Real Madrid 106-77 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Real Madrid extended its winning streak to five games by thrashing Milan 106-77 at Movistar Arena. The visitors started strong, but an 11-2 run saw the hosts grab a 30-23 lead after 10 minutes. The Spanish side held Milan to just 13 points in the second quarter, when Trey Lyles scored 11 off the bench to help his team open a comfortable double-digit lead that they maintained throughout the duel.
Having secured its 11th win in 12 home games, Real Madrid improved its record to 15-8, with Milan dropping to 11-12 after suffering a second straight loss. Lyles scored a game-high 17 points and Mario Hezonja netted 13, with David Kramer bagging a career-high 12. Marko Guduric paced Milan with 15 points and Armoni Brooks was held to just 10 in a losing effort