Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz’s offense may have been hailed as one of the finest in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season, but on Thursday night it was its defense that was the key to the 88-73 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. 

Baskonia’s defense injected energy into offense to beat Milan

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz’s offense may have been hailed as one of the finest in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season, but on Thursday night it was its defense that was the key to the 88-73 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Having boasted the fourth-best offense in the competition with 84.0 points scored per game coming into the duel against the Italian side, Baskonia averaged 95.8 points in its last five duels. Yet, this time Coach Dusko Ivanovic's men aimed for a solid start to the game on defense too and the players delivered on the floor. The first quarter at Buesa Arena was balanced, with the hosts keeping Milan to 18 points.

“Defense \[was the key to the win\],” Chima Moneke said after the game. “We started off well, which is something we haven’t done this whole season. I’m proud of the starters for doing that.”

Baskonia took a one-point lead into the second quarter, which is when Moneke stepped up on both ends. The 28-year-old forward provided his team with a boost in energy on defense and netted 8 second-quarter points, with his team outscoring Milan 29-16.

“When I came into the game, I made the difference and I’m proud of myself today,” Moneke added.

Game Videos

Baskonia led 48-34 at halftime, but a quick 0-8 Milan run allowed the visitors to trim the deficit to single digits. This is when Baskonia tightened up its defense and transmitted this energy through Markus Howard and Moneke to the offense to regain control of the game.

“Tonight, my players did a really good job,” Ivanovic noted after the game. “On offense, we had patience, moved the ball and had many open shots. But I think that our aggressiveness on defense was very good too.”

Game News

Howard fired on all cylinders and finished the duel with a game-high 26 points. As for Moneke, he went 2-for-4 from inside the arc, 3-for-4 from deep and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He also registered 6 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block for a PIR of 27.

“I think the biggest thing was having energy and being aggressive,” Howard said after the game. “On the defensive end, we pressured on the ball and made them feel us. I think that helped us on the offensive end as well.”

With Thursday’s victory, Baskonia improved to a 16-13 record and extended its home winning streak to four games. Looking to establish itself in the playoff spots, the Basque side has a couple of tough away duels coming next, as they’ll face Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade before traveling to Lithuania to take on Zalgiris Kaunas in the upcoming double-round week.

The offensive dynamo buckled down on the other end on Thursday night

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2024-03-14T19:30:00.000Z)

Moses Wright had a career-best night as Olympiacos B.C. beat Panathinaikos B.C. 71-65 in the EuroLeague.

Moses Wright had a night he’ll never forget in the Greek Derby

While Olympiacos Piraeus scored a paltry 7 first-quarter points against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens to trail 7-17 after 10 minutes, [Moses Wright](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/moses-wright/012878/) had to watch on from the bench. But, his introduction into the game would soon see the Reds turn things around.

Wright got his first minutes on the night with 8:55 minutes to go in the second quarter and it didn’t take long for him to start impacting things, stealing the ball from a sideline pass before racing away for a big dunk that generated a huge roar inside Peace and Friendship Stadium. That slam cut the deficit to five points, 14-19.

Shortly after, the 25-year-old attacked Panathinaikos star [Mathias Lessort](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mathias-lessort/003842/) and managed to get his layup to go while being fouled. When he converted the free throw to make it a three-point play, the score was 18-19.

The truth is that there was no stopping Wright for a stretch in the second quarter, as he scored inside once again before netting another two baskets to keep Olympiacos close, 24-26. He was perfect from the field, too, going 5-for-5 from the field and 1-for-1 from the line en route to 11 points.

Moses Wright had a career-high 19 points as Olympiacos Piraeus beat Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 71-65 in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Moses Wright's highlights vs. Panathinaikos

When Wright was given a chance to get some rest with 3:22 minutes before halftime, with the score 25-26, he received a standing ovation from the entire crowd inside Peace and Friendship Stadium and, perhaps most importantly, had helped completely shift the Reds’ mindset.

Perhaps surprisingly, Wright would not enter the game again until the fourth quarter got underway. While Olympiacos had taken its first lead of the night with the first basket of the second half, Panathinaikos was making a fightback that needed to be stopped. Enter: Wright.

### Helping put the game to bed

[Kostas Sloukas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/kostas-sloukas/001926/) had cut the gap to three points, 55-52, with 5:51 minutes remaining, then Wright caused the roof to come off Peace and Friendship Stadium by posterizing Lessort in a play that will be repeated time and time again.

The Greens kept charging, but Wright was always on hand to offer a response, be it scoring a floater (59-54), dunking once again (63-59) and, last but not least, scoring a put-back layup (67-60) to put the win on ice with 30 seconds to go. The [Reds would go on to grab a 71-65 victory](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-olympiacos-bc-vs-panathinaikos-bc/).

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mooooses Wright! ⚡⚡<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bwinMVP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#bwinMVP</a> <a href="https://t.co/Mok6OGTUVR">pic.twitter.com/Mok6OGTUVR</a></p>&mdash; Olympiacos B.C. (@Olympiacos_BC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Olympiacos_BC/status/1768370027357491570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

When all was said and done, Wright had set a new career high by scoring 19 points, beating his previous best mark of 15, which came on his debut in Round 24. He was 9-for-9 from two-point territory and 1-for-3 from the charity stripe, yet afterward he only had one thing in his mind: the fans.

“I’ve got to thank the fans. The fans bring the energy, I just try to match what they do – they go crazy every time we score, we get a stop, so that just hypes everyone up,” he commented.

Thursday night was Wright’s sixth Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game in an Olympiacos jersey and his first Greek Derby. If he wasn’t too well-known beforehand, he certainly is now.

More Olympiacos News

Olympiacos Piraeus center Moses Wright screams with joy during his team's win against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The center came off the bench and made a huge impact against Panathinaikos

Olympiacos Piraeus v Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (2024-03-14T17:45:00.000Z)

AS Monaco trailed by 14 points in the first half before it charged back to lead by as many as 11 points and ended up needing one final surge to put ALBA Berlin away 82-90 and improve to a 19-10 record.

Monaco downed ALBA with energy plays 

AS Monaco had a poor start and did not play its best game, but in the end, it used a lot of energy plays to extend the team’s winning streak to eight games. 

Monaco trailed by 14 points in the first half before it charged back to lead by as many as 11 points and ended up needing one final surge to put ALBA Berlin away 82-90 and improve to a 19-10 record.

"It was not an easy game and we did not play the way we wanted to play. Even though we scored 90 points, we had a lot of mistakes. 

We were too sloppy and arrogant,” said Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic. “It’s great to win any game, even when it’s not the best game.”

Monaco turned the game around with a 12-32 second quarter, which included forcing nine of ALBA’s 21 turnovers. Obradovic’s men committed only 12 turnovers and that difference led to a 36-13 advantage on points off turnovers. 

The visitors were better at pushing the ball as well with 10 fastbreak points to 5 for ALBA.

Monaco's Mike James grabbed all the attention after becoming the competition's all-time leading scorer during a comfortable win over Zvezda. He and his team move onto an ALBA outfit armed with the talents of Matt Thomas, who's capable of providing a deep threat with multiple triples in four straight games.

ALBA Berlin vs AS Monaco | Round 29 | Replay

Monaco won the battle of the boards only 39-33 but a major difference came on the offensive glass as the guests corralled 16 offensive rebounds to 7 for ALBA. Monaco came into the game as the third-best club in offensive rebounds with 11.5 per game while ALBA’s defense ranked second-to-last in offensive rebounds allowed at 11.2. Monaco used those extra possessions for a 14-4 cushion in second-chance points. 

Add the Monaco offensive rebounds and ALBA turnovers and Monaco ended up taking 74 field goal attempts to only 54 for ALBA, which was a massive difference.

“That was not one of our prettiest games this season in the EuroLeague. But a win is a win. We have to take the good stuff and then learn from the things we didn’t do as well,” said Elie Okobo, who collected 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 6 fouls drawn and 0 turnovers for a PIR of 24. 

“We came out of the game slow and no energy. That second unit came in and gave us some energy to get the game going. We kept it up from there. We were up and down at times in the game but we figured it out,” added Donta Hall, who chipped in 8 points, 6 rebounds - 4 of them offensive boards, 4 steals and 1 block. 

The win lifted the club into sole possession of third place in the standings.

ALBA Berlin v AS Monaco (2024-03-14T19:00:00.000Z)

Maccabi's tale of two halves

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv got its first road win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in more than a decade and did so in memorable fashion. Maccabi overcame a bad first half only to show why it is chasing playoff spots in the second, overcoming an 18-point deficit to beat Zvezda 80-84.

In the first half, Maccabi scored just 31 points, and did it by shooting a miserable 6-for-21 on two-pointers. Meanwhile, Zvezda was 13-for-23 in that same two-point department. Maccabi had a 9-6 advantage on the offensive glass, but considering shooting percentage, it was not that much of a difference.

Then, things turned upside-down.

After the break, Maccabi made 14 of its 25 two-point shots, and despite improving its shooting, it still managed to pull down 8 offensive boards. Josh Nebo was a monster on the offensive glass, finishing with a career-high 8 offensive boards, 2 better than its previous best.

Meanwhile, Zvezda was held to just 7-of-13 on two-pointers and 4-for-15 on threes.

Also, Maccabi forced 11 turnovers in the second half, after Zvezda had only 3 in the first 20 minutes. At the same time, Maccabi committed just 4 turnovers in the last two quarters.

Bonzie Colson and Nebo each scored 13 points in the second half and Lorenzo Brown scored all of his 10 points after the break.

It all led to Maccabi scoring 53 second-half points, and turning a 49-31 deficit early in the third quarter to its third straight win and 16th on the season.

Maccabi scored 53 second-half points and turned an 18-point deficit into a big victory.

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2024-03-14T18:00:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona beat KK Partizan 94-76 in Round 29 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Barça Basket beats KK Partizan, 94-76, with strong finish

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Willy Hernangomez of FC Barcelona is guarded by Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Nico Laprovittola, Willy Hernangomez and Ricky Rubio all shined for the hosts

Barcelona beats Partizan, 94-76, with strong finish

FC Barcelona v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2024-03-14T19:30:00.000Z)

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz beat Olimpia Milano 88-73 in Round 29 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Baskonia downs Olimpia Milano, 88-73, to extend home run

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Vanja Marinkovic of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz is guarded by Devon Hall of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Chima Moneke put in an MVP-caliber performance for the hosts

Baskonia downs Milan, 88-73, to extend home run

AS Monaco Basket defeated ALBA Berlin 82-90 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Round 29 of the 2023-24EuroLeague season.

Monaco Basket fends off ALBA Berlin for eighth straight win, 82-90

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Mike James of AS Monaco is guarded by Jonas Mattisseck of ALBA Berlin in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Elie Okobo and Mike James combined for 41 points for the visitors

Monaco fends off ALBA for eighth straight win, 82-90

Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. overturned an 18-point deficit to defeat KK Crvena zvezda 80-84 in Round 29 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Maccabi rallies from 18 down to top Crvena zvezda 80-84

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Jake Cohen of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv is guarded by Luka Mitrovic of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

The Israeli side went to another gear in the second half to grab the win

Maccabi rallies from 18 down to top Zvezda 80-84

Fenerbahçe Beko Istanbul set a new club and EuroLeague by hitting 24 three-pointers in a 118-88 victory over Valencia Basket. 

Fenerbahçe Beko hits 24 threes vs. Valencia, breaks all-time record

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul made sure that its Round 29 showdown against Valencia Basket was one to remember, as it broke both a club and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague all-time record [on its way to a 118-88 victory](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-fenerbahce-beko-istanbul-vs-valencia-basket/). 

Saras Jasikevicius's side buried 24 three-pointers to break the competition's best-ever mark, which previously belonged to Anadolu Efes Istanbul, having made 22 shots from beyond the arc in a 109-77 home victory over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on February 24, 2022. 

[Tyler Dorsey](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/tyler-dorsey/009849/) was Fenerbahce's biggest contributor on its record-breaking night, striking 8 threes from 9 attempts. [Scottie Wilbekin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/scottie-wilbekin/006661/) hit 6, [Nigel Hayes-Davis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nigel-hayes-davis/008962/) 4, [Tarik Biberovic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/tarik-biberovic/006961/) and [Marko Guduric](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/marko-guduric/004004/) 2 apiece, while [Nate Sestina](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nathan-sestina/profile/011980/) and [Amine Noua](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/amine-noua/006068/) each struck once apiece from downtown.

"We made a lot of threes, but we have a lot of great shooters on our team. Everybody is putting in the extra work every night, so I am not surprised we finally had a game like this," Dorsey said. "We just had a good game, it was one of those nights for us."

Dorsey tied Guduric in second place for most three-pointers ever hit by a Fenerbahce player in a EuroLeague game. Andrew Goudelock buried 10 triples against FC Bayern Munich on November 13, 2014, becoming the first-ever EuroLeague player to reach double digits in three-point shots made in a game.

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul buried 24 three-pointer, the most by any team in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game, ever!

Fenerbahce hits 24 three-pointers: an all-time record!

"It's unbelievable. Everything is so much easier when you are hitting shots," Coach Jasikevicius commented. "You have to create them first, but it's not every day you hit so many — 24 is obviously an unbelievable number. We have a lot of great shooters here, they had a great night."

### Another record for Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce broke a club record with those 118 points. Its previous record was the 111 points it scored against another Spanish team, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, earlier this season. Valencia had allowed that many points in a EuroLeague game either. Baskonia netted 114 points against Valencia last season, more than anyone else — until Thursday night.

Dorsey led the way with 28 points, Hayes-Davis added 21 and Wilbekin 20. Fenerbahce registered its third consecutive victory and is now on a six-game home winning streak, while it also improved to 18-11 in the standings to remain in playoff territory.

"It's a night to enjoy, that's for sure," Saras concluded.

More Fenerbahce News

The Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul players celebrate after their win against Valencia Basket in Round 29 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

There was no stopping the Turkish side on Thursday night

Fenerbahce hits 24 threes vs. Valencia, breaks all-time record

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v Valencia Basket (2024-03-14T17:45:00.000Z)