The action continues with two games on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday
At a glance: Playoff series move to new sites for Game 3
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Four new venues will stage Game 3 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, with three road teams hoping to complete their march into the Final Four while another attempts to maintain homecourt advantage. This is what you can expect on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Paris Basketball vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
In its first-ever home playoff game, Paris Basketball will attempt to keep its season alive by stopping the flow of red-hot Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.
The Turkish team set a modern playoff record in Game 2 by draining 61 points in the first half, so it's clearly vital for the hosts to make a strong start and avoid Fenerbahce from feeling too comfortable.
Paris has been over reliant on three players during the series so far, with nobody other than TJ Shorts, Nadir Hifi and Tyson Ward averaging more than 7 points per game. The likes of big man Kevarrius Hayes and deep threat Mikael Jantunen will therefore be determined to make more impact, especially from three-point territory where the team has made just 28.3% of its attempts so far in the series.
Fenerbahce has benefitted from several strong individual performances so far, including sharpshooter Tarik Biberovic who netted 3 triples in both games in Istanbul, while Nigel Hayes-Davis has been delivering at both ends of the court with averages of 15 points and 6.5 rebounds.
But the greatest strength for Saras Jasikevicius's team has been its collective play, and home team boss Tiago Splitter needs his players to match that with 40 full minutes of hustle to prevent Fenerbahce from marching straight into the Final Four.
Real Madrid vs. Olympiacos Piraeus
Regular season standings leader Olympiacos Piraeus needs one more win to advance to another Final Four at the expense of 2023 champion Real Madrid.
The Spanish giant will take confidence from the fact that its home form has been a huge contrast to its troubles on the road throughout the season - but one of its few home losses came against Olympiacos, 86-96, in January.
Los Blancos needs its leaders in the backcourt and the paint to recover their usual high standards, with dynamic guard Facundo Campazzo averaging more turnovers (4.5) than assists (4) in the first two games, while giant center Walter Tavares has mustered an average PIR of just 6.
Tavares's struggles have been exploited by the Reds to enjoy inside dominance, with big men Nikola Milutinov and Moustapha Fall combining with star performer Sasha Vezenkov to grab 11 offensive rebounds in Game 2. The numbers also show that Olympiacos has dominated defensively, forcing Real into 37 turnovers in the first two games, with Milutinov and Evan Fournier both snaring 4 steals.
Olympiacos has, however, perhaps been a little too reliant on Vezenkov for its offensive production, and if Real can find a way to contain the 2023 league MVP, the visiting team will need the likes of Saben Lee and Nigel Williams-Goss to improve their output to complete a series sweep.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
FC Barcelona vs. AS Monaco
FC Barcelona needs to find defensive solutions against a rampant AS Monaco to prevent the Roca Team from sweeping its way straight into the Final Four.
Vassilis Spanoulis's team showed great depth and efficiency to score 97 and 92 points in the first two games, with seven different players delivering double-digit scoring nights. In doing so, Monaco had great shooting percentages (64.6% from two-point range, 37% for three), whilst averaging 24.5 assists on just 8 turnovers.
Elie Okobo has been the star, averaging 15 points and 7.5 assists, with Mike James and Matthew Strazel also delivering from the backcourt. And with Daniel Theis and Mam Jaiteh providing a perfect one-two punch in the paint, Monaco has proved near impossible to stop.
That has to change on Wednesday when Joan Peñarroya’s team will look to feed off the energy of the Palau Blaugrana crowd and start strong through the scoring skills of Kevin Punter (15 points average in the first two games).
Barca would also love veteran big man Jan Vesely to step up after a modest series so far following a long injury absence, while Dario Brizuela (12 points per game on 6-of-7 three-point shooting) needs to maintain his excellent scoring form whilst taking better care of the basketball after committing 7 turnovers in the first two games.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Anadolu Efes Istanbul will attempt to keep hold of the homecourt advantage it grabbed in Athens on Thursday against a Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens team thirsting for immediate revenge.
The reigning champs threw away a double-digit lead in Game 2 as they allowed Efes to score 29 fourth-quarter points and the Greens know they must work harder defensively to limit the influence of home team talisman Shane Larkin, who averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 assists and a PIR of 23 in the first two games.
Another huge presence for the Turkish team has been center Vincent Poirier, who has dominated the paint with averages of 16.5 points and 9 rebounds. So visiting big men Omer Yurtseven and Wenyen Gabriel need to do more to stand their ground - and Coach Ergin Ataman could give a first appearance of the series to fellow former Efes man Tibor Pleiss.
Panathinaikos needs scoring star Kendrick Nunn to rediscover his regular season form, especially from three-point range after only making 25% of his attempts from deep so far in the playoffs.
And on a collective level, the Greens need to avoid the inconsistency that has been prevalent in many of their performances throughout the season, while Efes head coach Luca Banchi will hope the perimeter defense of PJ Dozier and Elijah Bryant is enough to prevent the power-packed Panathinaikos guard rotation from taking over.