Only a few could have foreseen a big turnaround like the one that took place in the second half of the game between Panathinaikos Athens and Zalgiris Kaunas at OAKA on Thursday night. The visitors were dominating 27-42 at halftime and the home team looked totally collapsed on both ends.

But all of a sudden, the scenario turned upside down in the third quarter, which finished with Panathinaikos outscoring its opponent 37-16 to enter the last stanza ruling 64-58. And the main responsible for that change was Paris Lee, who erupted for 17 points in those 10 minutes to put Panathinaikos in front and bring the fans to their feet.

Lee, who had scored just 2 points in the first half coming off the bench, was one of the three changes head coach Dejan Radonjic made after halftime, together with Arturas Gudaitis and Georgios Kalaitzakis. Lee thanked his coach for the confidence by hitting all of his 4 three-point attempts and another 2 twos, plus providing 2 steals that turned into the right boost his team needed.

Overall, Lee finished with a career-high 24 points as Panathinaikos closed the game with a 24-point margin after outscoring Zalgiris 62-23 in the second half.

Game News

Game Videos

Paris Lee transformed the Greens after halftime

Panathinaikos Athens v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-01-26T19:00:00.000Z)

This has been the most competitive of all seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, but LDLC ASVEL’s convincing 91-77 win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Thursday night – although by no means the biggest winning margin – was perhaps the most one-sided encounter we have seen so far in terms of start to finish dominance.

ASVEL scored the first 11 points of the game, with new signing Dee Bost hitting 3 triples. That was the best start to a EuroLeague game in ASVEL’s history, surpassing the previous club best of 9-0 which had been achieved on two occasions. And that, essentially, was the game. With the opening salvo coming in the first 2 minutes and 20 seconds, Fenerbahce spent the rest of the game – more than 37 minutes – constantly trailing by at least 9 points, and never getting the margin below double digits in the final 28 minutes.

There was a brief flurry from Fenerbahce when Carsen Edwards scored a couple of triples early in the fourth quarter, reducing the deficit to 75-63 with more than 7 minutes still remaining. But then Nando De Colo decided that a comeback was not on the night’s menu, scoring 9 points in precisely 90 seconds to stretch the gap back to 16 points, 84-68, and ensuring that ASVEL’s control of the contest would last the full 40 minutes.

Record start led ASVEL to dominant win

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2023-01-26T20:00:00.000Z)

Valencia Basket stepped up its defensive rebounding in the second half and that helped it get the Spanish side an 88-94 victory at ALBA Berlin.

Valencia allowed ALBA to grab 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, which resulted in an 11-3 advantage in second-chance points in the first 20 minutes. The Valencia big-man duo of Kyle Alexander and Jaime Pradilla and guard Xabi Lopez-Arostegui worked harder after the break and combined to grab 11 defensive rebounds in the game.

All told ALBA won the rebounding battle 35-33 - and 14-12 on offensive rebounds. But the second-chance advantage ended up being just 14-9 in the end.

ALBA entered the game having grabbed the third most offensive rebounds per game (12.1) but Valencia was second best at the other end, giving up just 9.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Valencia controlled the boards better in the second half 

ALBA Berlin v Valencia Basket (2023-01-26T19:00:00.000Z)

Real Madrid needed overtime to defeat archrival FC Barcelona 91-86 in Round 21, moving up to a 14-7 record in the standings. Real's defense was all over the place and that played a key role in *Los Blancos*' win. 

Real finished the game with 13 steals, a new season-high. It had previously collected 10 steals twice earlier this season, against ALBA Berlin and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. As many as 10 different Real players collected at least 1 steal during the game, which speaks volumes about the home team's defensive activity. Dzanan Musa, Walter Tavares and Rudy Fernandez each collected 2 against Barca.

On the other hand, Barca finished the game with 25 turnovers, matching the most of any team this season. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul also had 25 turnovers in a 94-67 road loss against Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 13. It is also Barca's club record for most turnovers in a EuroLeague game. It previously had 24 turnovers twice: against Zalgiris Kaunas on December 4, 2020, and against CSKA Moscow on December 16, 2016.

Real's steals decided El Clásico

Real Madrid v FC Barcelona (2023-01-26T19:45:00.000Z)

Panathinaikos enjoyed an unforgettable night as it defeated Zalgiris 89-65 at OAKA on Thursday night. The Greens were down by 15 points at halftime but caught fire after the break to score 37 points in the third period and outscore its opponent 62-23 in the second half. With this win, Panathinaikos improved to 8-13, while Zalgiris saw a 4-game winning streak come to its end and slipped to 12-9.

Paris Lee led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, getting 17 of them in the third quarter. Mateusz Ponitka and Dwayne Bacon followed with 13 points apiece and Georgios Papagiannis posted 12 points and 5 rebounds for the winners. Rolands Smits was the only Zalgiris player in double figures, as he poured in 11, plus 5 boards, in defeat.

Zalgiris started strong, collapsing the hosts’ offense and displaying terrific shooting accuracy. The visitors converted all 5 of their first attempts for a 0-10 run that gave them a 4-14 lead. Even though Panathinaikos reacted after a timeout, going for a 9-0 charge that made it a one-possession game midway through the first period, Zalgiris used rotations to breathe again and led 19-24 after 10 minutes. 

Things went even worse for the Greens in the second quarter as Zalgiris took control of the boards and exploited Panathinaikos's turnovers to increase the difference little by little. A 0-5 opening run returned a double-digit lead to the visitors and it grew little by little to reach a game-high 15 points margin at halftime, 27-42.

The Greens transformed in the locker room and warned its opponent about what was coming early in the third quarter. A 5-0 run was stopped by Zalgiris coach Maksvytis less than 2 minutes after the game resumed. Lee emerged as a dominant force on both ends, firing up the Greens in defense and offense. He scored 17 points in the third quarter on 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc, leading the way for others like Ponitka, Bacon and Georgios Kalaitzakis. A three by Lee completed the comeback, 54-52, and a fastbreak bucket by Ponitka closed the third quarter with a 64-58 advantage for the home side. 

The punishment continued in the final quarter, when Panathinaikos opened with a 10-0 run that turned into 18-2 to make it a 20-point game, 82-60, with still 5 minutes remaining. The Greens were unstoppable all over the way, playing defense, stealing the ball, making fastbreaks and finding Papagiannis inside against a stunned opponent that waived the white flag long before the final whistle.

Panathinaikos dominates second half to blast Zalgiris, 89-65

Valencia Basket took another step towards a playoff spot as it defeated ALBA Berlin 88-94 on the road to extend its winning streak to four games. Valencia made all 11 of its free throws in the final 2:03 minutes to secure the win and improve to 11-10.

Jared Harper poured in 20 points to lead the way for the Spanish side, Chris Jones scored 16 and Kyle Alexander had 14 points. ALBA dropped its third straight game to fall to 6-15 despite Maodo Lo scoring 25 points and Johannes Thiemann tallying 17 points.

The teams started on fire with a combined 10 baskets without a miss or turnover and the score was 10-10. Josep Puerto had 8 points for the visitors, who had 8 straight points for a 10-15 lead. ALBA kept Valencia without a basket for 3 minutes and eventually pulled ahead 22-21 and the hosts were up 25-24 after 10 minutes.

The game remained close for the second quarter with Harper scoring 10 points in helping Valencia nose ahead 35-42. Lo tried to get the hosts back into the game and pull within 47-48. Valencia was up 47-50 at the break.

A Jonah Radebaugh triple temporarily pushed Valencia’s lead back to 7 points only to see ALBA reel off an 8-0 run with triples from Thiemann and Yovel Zoosman to go up 62-61. And the home side was ahead 68-67 after 30 minutes.

ALBA managed just 1 basket in the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter to fall behind 71-77. Zoosman tallied 5 points in an 8-2 spurt to knot the game 81-81. Valencia did not falter the final 123 seconds from the free throw line, making all 11 attempts to stave off any comeback.

Valencia downs ALBA 88-94 to extend win streak to four

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne boosted its playoff ambitions with a comprehensive win, 91-77, over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul at Astroballe. ASVEL improved to 8-13, while Fenerbahce saw a three-game winning run snapped and dropped to 13-8.

ASVEL raced into an 11-0 lead and maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way, stretching the advantage to 18 points on several occasions. Fenerbahce could not find defensive answers and never really threatened a comeback. Nando De Colo led the way with 26 points, while Dee Bost had 15 points and 9 assists in his home debut. Zaccharie Risacher and Retin Obasohan added 10 points apiece, while Carsen Edwards was Fenerbahce’s only shining light with 22 points.

Bost netted 3 triples inside the opening 2 minutes before De Colo added three baskets for a 16-4 lead. Edwards scored twice for Fenerbahce but another Bost triple helped make it 25-12 after 10 minutes. 

A physical second quarter saw Bost and De Colo again strike from deep to make it 39-21. Two more scores from Edwards and a three-point play by Marko Guduric couldn’t bring Fenerbahce any closer than 48-33 at the break. 

Consecutive baskets from Risacher kept ASVEL comfortable in the third quarter, 55-40. Scottie Wilbekin hit a couple of triples, but two scores apiece for Charles Kahudi and Alex Tyus made it 71-55 with 10 minutes left. 

Two more triples from Edwards were answered by a pair of deep strikes from De Colo, 84-68, sealing the outcome long before the end.

Inspired ASVEL thrashes Fenerbahce, 91-77

The attendees inside Salle Gaston Medecin on Thursday night were treated to a shootout, as AS Monaco scored a season-high 101 points in its 101-88 win against EA7 Emporio Armani. As a result of this victory, Monaco improved to 13-8 and Milan dropped to 6-15.

 

Elie Okobo paced Monaco with 19 points, while Mike James finished with an 18-point, 10-assist double-double. John Brown added 15 points, and Jordan Loyd and Donta Hall contributed 11 apiece. For Milan, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot recorded a career-high 19 points. Naz Mitrou-Long scored 14, Deshaun Thomas and Devon Hall notched 12, and Kyle Hines had 10.

James helped Monaco get off to a good start inside the first three minutes by scoring 8 as the hosts opened a 10-3 lead, but Milan soon fought back through an inspired Luwawu-Cabarrot to cut the gap at the midway point of the quarter, 12-10. The home Monaco crowd were able to welcome new signing Chima Moneke onto the floor shortly after, and he made an immediate impression with a three-point play, 15-10. By the close of the opening 10 minutes, Monaco had a 29-22 advantage on the back of 10 points by James, while Luwawu-Cabarrot had 9 for the visitors.

 

After a high-scoring opening quarter, both teams' offenses continued to impress in the second quarter. Thomas finished a three-point play of his own to move up to 2,001 points in his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career, 29-25, early in the quarter, but despite good shooting from Milan, it was unable to trim down the deficit any further. Mitrou-Long's triple made it 41-36 with 6:00 left before halftime, while Brandon Davies saw a three-pointer fall with 2:30 remaining to make it a four-point game, 52-48. But, Monaco found a way to end the quarter on a high – capped by Yakuba Ouattara's posterizing dunk on birthday boy Nicolo Melli – as it went into the halftime break seven points ahead, 57-50.

During the halftime interviews, Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic and Milan counterpart Ettore Messina stated that they wanted to see improvements on defense, but the offensive clinic continued after the interval. Luwawu-Cabarrot was particularly impressive in leading Milan's response, providing an assist for Hines and putting more points on the board, as the visitors made it 64-60 with 6:45 to go in the quarter. Two and a half minutes later, with 4:17 remaining, Thomas reached 10 points in the game and cut the gap to one point, 69-68, after going at Monaco new boy Moneke. At 2:30, Milan tied the game after a tough layup by Luwawu-Cabarrot, but another strong finish to end the quarter by Monaco saw the hosts go on a 10-4 run to enter the final period with a lead of 80-74.

 

In the final quarter of play, Monaco hit back whenever Milan looked to mount a comeback. The visitors struggled to stops when they needed them, and with 5:50 left in the game, Jaron Blossomgame swelled Monaco's lead to 14 points, 92-78, after a scoring around the rim. Milan found a way to stop Monaco's offense for a couple of minutes late in the quarter, but it failed to capitalize on the other end. Eventually, Monaco put the cherry on top of the cake in the final minutes, with James getting his double-double and Blossomgame scoring in the dying seconds to cap off a 101-88 win, which is Monaco's fourth straight victory at home.

Monaco explodes for season-high points total in win over Milan, 101-88

AS Monaco v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2023-01-26T20:00:00.000Z)

<incrowd-live-blog id="63d29f04808931269cf8b556" client-id="EUROLEAGUE"></incrowd-live-blog><script src="https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js"></script>

<script>
(function (document) {
  setTimeout(() => {
    const script = document.createElement('script');
    script.async = true;
    script.defer = true;
    script.src = 'https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js';
    document.body.appendChild(script);
  }, 1000);
})(document);
</script>

Blog Thursday: Real Madrid takes El Clásico; Monaco, Valencia, Panathinaikos win

Real Madrid v FC Barcelona (2023-01-26T18:00:00.000Z)

Panathinaikos Athens v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-01-26T20:00:00.000Z)