This double week commences with a hectic slate Tuesday night before one game Wednesday
Game Center: Fener wins in Barcelona; 8 teams protect home court including Maccabi and PAO in the final seconds
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Tuesday, February 3
Dubai Basketball 108-98 Olympiacos Piraeus
Dubai got back to winning ways by beating Olympiacos 108-98 in overtime at Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday evening. The hosts started strong and took a 52-40 lead at halftime, but Olympiacos fought back in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 74-70 heading into the fourth, when the game turned into a back-and-forth affair. Mfiondu Kabengele made 2-of-2 from the line with 3 seconds to go, but Evan Fournier drilled one from deep, sending the game to overtime. Then Thomas Walkup nailed an open triple, which was Olympiacos’s only bucket in overtime as Dubai responded with a 13-0 run to seal the outcome.
Having registered its ninth home victory, Dubai improved its record to 12-14. Meanwhile, Olympiacos’s five-game winning run came to an end, with the Greek side dropping to 16-9. Dwayne Bacon and Mfiondu Kabengele scored 21 points each, with the latter also picking up 14 rebounds. McKinley Wright bagged 18 points and Aleksa Avramovic had 17 – 15 of which were scored in the first half. Tyler Dorsey recorded 18 points and Evan Fournier added 16 in a losing effort.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 107-90 Valencia Basket
Efes returned to winning ways by downing Valencia 107-90 at Turkcell Basketball Development Center. Efes improved to 7-19 in the standings and snapped a nine-game losing streak. Valencia dropped to 17-9 and is now on a three-game road losing streak. Efes dominated from start to finish, leading 33-14 at the end of the first quarter and keep a sage margin all the way until the final buzzer.
Ercan Osmani led the winners with 20 points and 7 rebounds for a PIR of 27. Jordan Loyd added 19 points against one of his former teams, Saben Lee netted 18, Kai Jones had a career-high 15 points on 7-of-7 two-pointers while PJ Dozier contributed 10 and 7 assists for Efes. Nate Reuvers led Valencia with 30 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting. Darius Thompson added 11 points while Braxton Key had 10 for the visitors.
Zalgiris Kaunas 104-87 AS Monaco
Zalgiris led from start to finish en route to thrashing visiting Monaco 104-87. With the victory, Zalgiris swept the regular-season series against Monaco and the two teams are now tied with 15-11 records.
Zalgiris opened the game with an 8-0 run, soon built a double-digit margin, and led 35-18 after 10 minutes in setting a club record for most points scored in the first quarter. Monaco never got closer than 14 points the rest of the game as Azuolas Tubelis starred with a personal-best 26 points and 7 rebounds, and Sylvain Francisco had 19 points and 8 assists. Dustin Sleva added 16 for the winners. For Monaco, which now has four straight losses, Mike James tallied a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists and Alpha Diallo had 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 87-75 Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv
Zvezda continued its march up the standings as it defeated Hapoel 87-75 at home for its fifth straight victory. Zvezda took control of the game with a 14-0 start to the fourth quarter to improve to 16-10 - giving up just 6 points in the final frame.
Jordan Nwora scored 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Jared Butler had 17 points and Codi Miller-McIntyre added 10 points and 9 assists. Hapoel’s recent struggles continued as it fell to 16-9. Chris Jones scored 16 points and Ish Wainright had 15 points for Hapoel, which has lost three straight without star guard Elijah Bryant.
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 95-93 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Jimmy Clark thrilled the home crowd with a buzzer-beating jumper to lift Maccabi to a dramatic home win over Partizan in a fervent atmosphere. Partizan led for much of the tight and thrilling contest but Maccabi found a way in the home stretch, forcing a barrage of tough shots from Partizan on the back of ironclad defense.
Iffe Lundberg and Clark paced Maccabi on 21 points each, with the former adding 5 assists and 4 rebounds and the latter dishing out 4 assists as both players produced excellent individual performances. Marcio Santos chipped in with 17 points and Roman Sorkin added 10. At the other end, Sterling Brown scored 19 points for Partizan while Dylan Osetkowski and Bruno Fernando sank 17 each.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 82-81 Real Madrid
Jerian Grant was the hero for Panathinaikos, as his game-winning fadeaway jumper over Andres Feliz allowed the Greens to pull out an 82-81 win over Real Madrid. It looked like Grant, who had been one of Panathinaikos’s stars on the night, was going to be the villain after his foul on a Mario Hezonja layup gave Real Madrid a 1-point lead with 8.7 seconds remaining, but he made amends just 6 seconds later. The Greens notched their second win in a row and their third successive at Telekom Center Athens to improve to 16-10, while Los Blancos suffered their second straight defeat and fell to the same 16-10 record.
Along with Grant, who finished with 19 points and 7 assists, Kostas Sloukas shined bright with 22 points. Cedi Osman was Panathinaikos’s only other scorer in double digits, netting 12 points. The Greens had to see out the final 3 minutes without Richaun Holmes, who fouled out, and then the final 30 seconds without Kenneth Faried, who also racked up 5 fouls. Real Madrid’s Alex Len had his best game yet for the club with 18 points, while Hezonja added 13 and Facundo Campazzo chipped in with 11. Campazzo also entered the all-time top 10 in assists with the 5 helpers he had, moving above Panathinaikos legend Dimitris Diamantidis.
FC Bayern Munich 81-75 Paris Basketball
Bayern grabbed its sixth win in the last eight games by defeating Paris 81-75 at SAP Garden. Bayern’s defense set the tone from the offset, with the hosts taking a 21-18 lead into the second quarter, when they held Paris to just 13 points. The opening stages of the second half saw the game turn into a trade of blows before the German side allowed just two Paris field goals in the last 5 and a half minutes of the third quarter to take a 52-49 edge heading into the fourth. Enter Andreas Obst, who scored 8 of Bayern’s last 10 points to inspire their fifth home victory in six games.
The hosts improved their record to 11-15. Meanwhile, Paris suffered its fourth defeat in five games, dropping to 8-17. Andreas Obst netted a game-high 26 points, having gone 5-for-10 from deep including 2 clutch triples in crunch time. Justinian Jessup bagged 15 points, with Wenyen Gabriel scoring a season-high 14 points. As for Paris, Nadir Hifi had 17 points with Jared Rhoden adding 15.
FC Barcelona 78-82 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Fenerbahce remained atop the standings by edging Barcelona 78-82 at Palau Blaugrana. Fenerbahce improved its league-best record to 18-7 and is now on a five-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Barca dropped to 16-10 after losing at home for the fourth time this season
Tarik Biberovic led the winners with 19 points and Wade Baldwin added 16 and 7 assists for Fenerbahce. Kevin Punter paced Barca with 24 points, Dario Brizuela scored 11 and Jan Vesely and Joel Parra each had 10 for the hosts.
Fenerbahce led 41-53 at halftime and boosted its margin to 51-71 late in the third quarter behind an unstoppable Baldwin. Parra, Punter and Brizuela brought Barca as close as 78-82 before Baldwin grabbed a critical offensive rebounds, drew a foul and sealed the outcome with 4.4 seconds left.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 109-89 Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Milan boosted its playoffs hopes by overcoming Baskonia 109-89 thanks to a dominant second half performance. The first half was played at a furious pace with both offenses scoring at will, and there were no less than 16 lead changes before Milan took a 57-56 advantage into the locker rooms. But the hosts continued to shoot superbly from long-range and embarked upon several runs in the third quarter to establish a double-digit lead, and that only grew in the final period as Milan cruised home.
Devin Booker led the way with 21 points, Zach LeDay added 19 and Marko Guduric guided the offense with 10 points and 6 assists. Shavon Shields scored 17 points, Armoni Brooks netted 14 and Diego Flaccadori had 10 for a Milan team which made 14 of its 24 three-point attempts. Markus Howard led the resistance for Baskonia with 21 points, while Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot added 19 and Kobi Simmons scored 14. Milan improves to 13-13 while Baskonia drops to 9-17 with just one road win all season.
Wednesday, February 4
Virtus Bologna vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (20:30 CET)
In Wednesday’s sole game, ASVEL (6-19) will attempt to finally grab its first road win of the season with a tough assignment at Virtus (12-13). The Italian team is riding a wave of optimism after Luca Vildoza’s last-second game-winner at Monaco last week, which also saw dynamic forward Derrick Alston continue his great form with a fourth straight double-digit scoring night. Virtus, just two wins short of the playoff places, will demand disciplined defense to subdue ASVEL’s impressive newcomer Braian Angola, whose 20 points nearly shocked Panathinaikos last week. The hosts will also look to cut off the supply lines provided by Thomas Heurtel, who dished 12 assists in that game. To boost its own scoring chances, Virtus will be able to welcome fit-again Carsen Edwards, who featured in the Italian League this past weekend.