Partizan vs Valencia
Jared Harper had five points with one minute to play in regulation and finished with 14 after overtime to lead Valencia to a 96 – 100 away win over Partizan Belgrade in the first-ever EuroLeague battle between the two clubs. This is the third road victory of the Spanish side this season after winning also at Anadolu Efes and Olympiacos Piraeus.
Jasiel Rivero led Valencia overall with a career-high 22 points plus six rebounds. Mathias Lessort scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Partizan that lost for a third straight match.
Harper made the layup against Lessort’s defense for the 93 – 98 with 47 seconds to left in overtime and then James Nunnally hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring Partizan at a shooting distance again. When Valencia initiated its offense, Webb tried to find Bojan Dubljevic inside the paint but his pass was too strong and the ball bounced off the glass to Nunnally.
Xabi Lopez-Arostegui poked the ball off Nunnally’s hands and Dubljevic dived to claim it and pass it to Harper. Kevin Punter was forced to commit the foul on Valencia’s guard who made both of his free throws to seal his team’s win.
Punter had scored nine out of his 19 points in the last two minutes of the fourth period and he could’ve had 10 if he didn’t go 2-3 from the line with the score 80 – 82 and 43 seconds left. He lifted Partizan from a 75 – 79 deficit and handed them an 80 – 79 lead only for Harper to drain the triple for the 80 – 82. After Harper nailed a tough floater to make it 82 – 84, Punter hit a pair of free throws to tie the score at 84 before Chris Jones missed the winning attempt from downtown.
Partizan led 49 – 40 at the beginning of the second half but Valencia came back to go up 66 – 67 early in the fourth quarter. The match remained close up until the very last moments of overtime.
Lopez-Arostegui contributed 17 points to Valencia’s win. Nunnally dropped 15 points, Yam Madar had 13 points and Zach LeDay 12 for Partizan.
Baskonia vs Armani Milano
Baskonia had things in control from start to finish, as the hosts got the 78-62 against Milan.
The Italian club’s woes continue, as they couldn’t even tie the score at any point of the game, trailing from the first play of the night and never managing to be really competitive on their 7th straight defeat.
Darius Thompson with 15 points and 7 assists, plus Daulton Hommes with 11 points led a balanced offensive effort for Baskonia.
Milan got 23 points from Brandon Davies and 14 points from Devon Hall.
The return of Billy Baron didn’t help as he was out of synch after being injured. He didn’t score and the Italians finished the night with just 8/28 threes.
Plus newcomer Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot wasn’t used in the second half after a hit on his head, for precautionary reasons.
Monaco vs ASVEL
Mike James and Donatas Motiejunas with 17 points each led Monaco to a crucial 84-75 road win over LDLC ASVEL, even if James wasn’t used in the last period.
It’s an important result for the winners who are tied with Barcelona at 8-3 in the second spot of the Turkish EuroLeague standings and also a message against the defending French champions.
The key was not only defense but also offensive rebounds, with Monaco getting 17 against just five by ASVEL and dictating the tempo of the game. Jordan Loyd added 11 points for Monaco.
On the other hand, the hosts didn’t have the same firepower on the offensive end with David Lighty and Retin Obasohan being the top scorers with 13 points each and Nando De Colo scoring just two points in 20 minutes of action.
Still, it’s an understatement to write that for 30 minutes the game was close. Monaco momentarily led by six (39-33) while the score was tied after the end of the first (20-20), the second (45-45), and the third period (60-60).
However, the guests started the last period also with a 6-0 run (66-60) and that was the start of Monaco creating a 12-point distance (77-65) after a three by Elie Okobo and a shot by Donta Hall with 3.35 left in the game.
There was no comeback for ASVEL after that with the losing side being stuck at the bottom of the standings with a 3-8 record.
Barcelona vs Alba Berlin
After recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, Nikola Mirotic returned to court and helped FC Barcelona beat Alba Berlin in Mercedes-Benz Arena 88-86.
The last season’s MVP led the Catalan team to their eighth win in Round 11 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with 19 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two assists for a PIR of 29.
Nicolas Laprovittola followed with 16 points, while Cory Higgins added 15. Tomas Satoransky and Mike Tobey scored 11 points each.
Tamir Blatt stood out for Alba with 17 points, Jaleen Smith added 15, and Johannes Thiemann scored 12, with seven rebounds for a PIR of 22.
Barcelona started the game with authority and grabbed a 30-19 lead after the first 10 minutes. Alba answered at the beginning of the second period with a 10-0 run and turned the score around in the first half’s final minutes.
After the break, Barca responded furiously and took control with an 18-2 run. The Catalan team entered the last period with a 71-57 lead, but Alba refused to give up.
The host cut the deficit to five points midway through the final period. Barcelona went up to a double-digit advantage again, but Alba pushed again and, after Jaleen Smith’s triple, got just a point behind the Sarunas Jasikevicius’ team.
Johannes Thieman had a chance to tie the score from the free-throw line, but he missed one of his three free throws. Mirotic then scored just once from the line on the other end, and Alba had a chance to tie or win the game but couldn’t make the final shot.
Anadolu Efes vs Olympiacos
Vasilije Micic posted 18 points, nine assists and nine rebounds while scoring 11 over the last 6:1 as Anadolu Efes beat Olympiacos Piraeus 82 – 71 in a rematch of one of the two 2022 EuroLeague semifinals.
Micic and his teammates combined for 15-30 triples, nine of them in the last 13 minutes, to grab their fourth win in a row. It was during that stretch, that Efes used a 12-0 run over four minutes through the third and fourth period to turn a 48 – 52 deficit into a 58 – 53 lead behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Will Clyburn. He finished with a game-high 24 points on 4-8 from beyond the arc plus five rebounds
The 3-point assault by Efes continued with Micic entering the picture while Olympiacos,that was up 35 – 45 four minutes into the second half, fell more and more behind as the game progressed. Rodrigue Beaubois (19 points) made his own threes 5-6 by draining the bucket for the 77 – 69 with 1:42 remaining and then Clyburn hit the win-sealing 3-pointer to make it 80 – 71.
EuroLeague’s November MVP Sasha Vezenkov finished with 18 points for Olympiacos. He had 15 of them in the first 30 minutes with eight straight to put the Reds up 46 – 53 before Efes’ comeback. Giannoulis Larentzakis dropped 13 points, Moustapha Fall notched 12 points plus six rebounds and Kostas Sloukas had 12 points, six assists and six boards.
Olympiacos started the game with a 0 – 10 run and led 27 – 37 halfway through the second period. The Greek side retained an advantage until the beginning of the fourth quarter when Clyburn hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and Efes never looked back.
I am (5,8”, PG, 18) currently playing in Macedonia for KK Kumanovo with aspirations to play college or professional basketball around the world. I love writing basketball articles not only to improve my English but also increase my knowledge in world of basketball!