Now that the schedule for the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season has been unveiled, EuroLeague.net's staff is eyeing all the mouth-watering action.
Games I am looking forward to in January
Article
5 Mins read
Here are the games staff members are most excited about in January. They already selected their must-see games for Round 1, October, November and December.
Round 19: The Wolf howls again at Buesa Arena
Javier Gancedo
Arguably no other Turkish Airlines EuroLeague newcomer had a bigger impact on his team and in competition history last season. After many years in the BKT EuroCup, Codi Miller-McIntyre stormed into the EuroLeague and took Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz to the playoffs with impressive numbers: 9.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 14.9 PIR and a competition-best 7.9 assists, playing all 39 games.
Miller-McIntyre made EuroLeague history in golden letters, breaking the competition's assists record by dishing 20 in a 94-80 home win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on February 8, 2024. Miller-McIntyre added 11 points and 11 rebounds to record just the fourth triple-double in EuroLeague history. "The Wolf" took his game to another level, like many other players have in the past while playing for Baskonia. He will be warmly received when Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade visits Fernando Buesa Arena on January 2, 2025. A perfect way for The Wolf, Baskonia and Zvezda to start a new year!
Round 19: Barcelona goes down memory lane to start 2025
Geoff Gillingham
In both teams’ first game of 2025, Round 19 sees Paris Basketball host FC Barcelona at Accor Arena, which has a capacity of 15,609 – almost double the 8,000 capacity of the French side’s usual home, Adidas Arena. For Barcelona, it will be the opportunity to relive one of the greatest moments in its history. Back in 2010, Barcelona won its second Turkish Airlines EuroLeague crown at Accor Arena (it was called Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy back then) after beating CSKA Moscow in the semifinals and Olympiacos Piraeus in the championship game.
Roger Grimau, last season’s head coach, and Ricky Rubio were part of that title-winning team, but they have both departed the club. It should be a special trip for Barcelona sporting director Juan Carlos Navarro, who had 21 points in the title decider. This game at Accor Arena will be just the second time Paris has used the city’s bigger arena in the EuroLeague this coming season, as Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens will be the first visiting team to play there in Round 3. There should be a fantastic atmosphere for this game, and Paris will be eager to put on a show against a Barcelona side that has aspirations of making it to next year’s Final Four.
Round 23: Coach Laso leads Baskonia into Madrid
Frankie Sachs
Pablo Laso coached Real Madrid to a pair of championships during his 12 seasons there, during which he coached more than half of Los Blancos’s current roster. That alone makes every visit to WiZink Arena a special one. The fact that he is now leading his hometown club, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, which faced Real in last season’s playoffs, adds more intrigue to this showdown.
Baskonia triumphed in its last two regular-season visits to Madrid, including a 91-95 contest last season in which Markus Howard poured in 35 points. However, after that, Real won Game 1 of their playoff series by 16 and the second game by 11. Real then took the series via a sweep in a high-scoring Game 3 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Even though this will not be their first clash of the season – they will have already met at Buesa Arena in Round 3 of the EuroLeague and could have also played before this in the Spanish League, it will be another interesting chapter in the rivalry of these Spanish foes.
Round 24: What's not to like about Belgrade Derby in late January?
Igor Petrinovic
This was pretty much a no-brainer for me, just like it was the case for their first clash in November. The reason for it is not that hard to figure out. There were no Belgrade Derbies in the EuroLeague before the 2022-23 season and each of the last two seasons the build-up for each game has been tremendous and expectation super-high. And then, the games and everything we would see both on the floor and in the stands during those two-plus hours of action, would not only meet the expectations, but surpass them.
This Belgrade Derby will mark Partizan Mozzart Bet's first home game against Crvena Zvezda this season and it comes at the very end of a long, grueling January. As a matter of fact, this game scheduled for January 31 at 20:30 CET will be the very final tip-off in the first month of 2025. A Round 24 game also means that the entire competition will be knee-deep in races for playoff and play-in spots. Both of these archrivals had a disappointing 2023-24 EuroLeague campaign, but I believe both Partizan and Zvezda will be chasing playoff spots in 2025, which would make the stakes in this one even bigger. It will be a tremendous Friday night treat.