Valencia vs Panathinaikos: Valencia edged Panathinaikos after overtime

Panathinaikos tried their best, but Valencia managed to get the close 94-91 overtime win and defend their home court.

It was a team effort for the Spaniards with Bojan Dubljevic scoring 23 points, Chris Jones adding 20, and James Webb had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Add also Jasiel Rivero who had 16 points and played a pivotal role in crunch time to get the full picture.

On the other side, Dwayne Bacon had 22 points and Derrick Williams scored 21, both falling short in the end to make one more big shot and give the win to their team.

It was a highly competitive game with Panathinaikos leading by six at the end of the first period (26-20) and then Valencia getting the advantage at halftime (44-41) and entering the last quarter (70-63).

In the closing seconds with the score tied at 84, first Jones missed the chance to give Valencia the lead with four seconds left, and then Bacon casually attempted a long shot way behind the arc that couldn’t go in as the game went to overtime instead of going towards the basket.

However two minutes before the end of the overtime, it was Bacon that gave Panathinaikos the 91-90 lead again with a three. That was the last time Panathinaikos got the lead with Rivero making two buckets and getting a huge offensive rebound. The Greeks had the chance to send the game again to overtime and Derrick Williams had a shot near the halfcourt to make things happen, but it didn’t go in.

Still, James Webb got the rebound and stepped on the sideline with 0,9 seconds left and Panathinaikos had one last shot. Williams got the ball again, but he also stepped on the sideline for a very anti-climatic ending.

FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid: Mental errors in crunch time almost derail Real Madrid in the close game with FC Bayern Munich

The fifth win in six away games of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, Real Madrid took down FC Bayern Munich, 68-64. Tuesday.

Paving the way in Audi Dome, Walter Tavares tallied 14 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks.

The Spain champions were in control for most of the second half but lacked the decisive punch to the hosts. Seemingly in a commanding position, an unsportsmanlike foul and a technical foul shrank the lead to two points in crunch time and possession to Bayern. But Andreas Obst failed to convert a three-pointer with 13 seconds on the clock.

Los Blancos went up to 9-4 with a visit to Zalgiris coming up Thursday. Stuck on the injury list, Carlos Alocen (knee), Gabriel Deck (quad), Rudy Fernandez (wrist), Adam Hanga (thigh), and Anthony Randolph (knee) are all out.

Facing his 2016-17 team, Othello Hunter showcased his range by connecting four three-pointers in a 14-point effort. Over the first 261 games played in Europe’s top-tier club continental competition stretching all the way back to the 2013-14 season, the 36-year-old center, 2019 champion, banked in a grand total of 12 triples. The other double-digit scoring effort was by Corey Walden with 11 points to his name.

Armani Milan vs Maccabi Tel Aviv: Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv took full advantage of AX Armani Exchange Milan’s problems and got a crucial road win

Maccabi knew that they had more than a chance to get the road win in Milan and took it thanks to Lorenzo Brown.

The guests prevailed in a close contest (77-71) with Brown scoring 20 points and dishing eight assists, while Roman Sorkin added 14 crucial points each and Jarrell Martin had 15.

Without the injured duo of Wade Baldwin and injured Alex Poythress, Brown made things happen and Sorkin proved to be the ace on the sleeve of coach Oded Kattash.

The game was more than close with the score being tied at the end of the first quarter (21-21) and the third (59-59). The hosts managed to get a 40-32 halftime advantage but it was shortlived as Maccabi managed to score 27 points in the third period, after scoring just five more in the whole first half.

However, with Roman Sorkin scoring back-to-back baskets, Maccabi entered the last five minutes leading by four (66-62) as once again Milan was running out of fuel at the end of the night.

Brown stole the ball from Billy Baron, Bonzie Colson made a three having in total 10 points and the Israelis were suddenly up by seven (69-62).  Still, with Baron answering back and Nicolo Melli making a huge three, Maccabi was up by one (71-70) with two minutes left.

Once again Sorkin scored back-to-back buckets (75-70) and Milan couldn’t get back into sticking distance. Baron finished the game with 18 points, Melli had 12 and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 14.

Still, once again nothing clicked with the hosts missing Kevin Pangos, Gigi Datome, and Shavon Shields, making just 13/22 free throws and having a 3-10 record, while Maccabi jumped to 7-6.

LDLC ASVEL vs Partizan Belgrade: De Colo outduels Exum in an epic scoring battle

Going back and forth against the team coached by legendary Zeljko Obradovic, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne edged out Partizan Mozzart Bet, 91-87, Tuesday.

Using his experience masterfully, Nando De Colo went up to 32 points in a brilliant shooting showing, falling slightly shy of his individual scoring best for the 2022-23 season. Delivering a couple of free throws with 9.1 seconds left was paired with effective team defense on the opposite end to seal the win in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 13. “It was one ball,” was the brief immediate reaction of Obradovic referring to James Nunnally’s costly turnover against the determined ASVEL defenders.

De Colo, 35, ended up with 11/15 field goals, including 6/8 from beyond the arc. Three assists and two rebounds helped in the team-high PIR of 30.

Building the biggest lead of the contest at seven points, late in the third period, T.J. Parker’s side did not knock out Partizan, instead was entangled in a free-throw battle to determine the winner at Astroballe, the first EuroLeague meeting between the two clubs since 2003. De Colo missed a free throw with 41.5 seconds on the clock but his former Fenerbahce teammate Nunnally was also 1/2 tying the game at 87-87. De Colo then tucked in the game-winning free throws and in conclusion Jonah Mathews hit two more shots from the charity stripe upping his total to 14 points.

Dante Exum nearing his career-high produced a 26-point effort to go along with six assists, three steals, and two rebounds in the losing effort in Villeurbanne, Lyon. The Australian guard fired in 17 of his points in the second half. But the team based in Belgrade fell to 4-10 with a fifth consecutive loss in Europe’s premier club competition and seventh in the last eight games across all competitions, including the AdmiralBet ABA League.

Back in France for the visiting team, Mathias Lessort went for 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Packing a double-digit PIR for the 13th straight game fell shy of snapping the losing streak. Aleksa Avramovic (hand) and Balsa Koprivica (hand) were out along with Slovenian Gregor Glas.

The French champions jumped to 5-8, after improving to 7-6 in France’s Betclic Elite LNB Pro A Sunday. Anthony Polite sat out alongside Joffrey Lauvergne (knee). Up next is Olympiacos Thursday. Partizan is set to play host to Anadolu Efes Friday.

Crvena Zvezda vs Zalgiris Kaunas: Luka Vildoza scored 27 points as Crvena Zvezda gets another win in Euroleague

Crvena Zvezda (7-6) is on a roll and nobody can stop Dusko Ivanovic’s squad.

The sixth win for the Belgrade side in a row since coach Dusko overtook the bench in EuroLeague is a fact and the hero this time is Luka Vildoza who hit all the big shots for a 77-73 victory against Zalgiris (6-7).

The Argentinian had a huge night, scoring 27 points.

While Vildoza was Batman tonight, Nemanja Nedovic was Robin. He scored 21 points.

It’s worth mentioning that Zalgiris was missing guard Lukas Lekavicius. US import Keenan Evans scored 18 points in a losing effort.

After a quick start by Zalgiris, and three-pointers from Evans, the Lithuanian side was off to the races. Crvena Zvezda has no answer for Evans who was the main reason the away team had an eight-point advantage after the first quarter.  But the tides turned, after a crucial Dusko Ivanovic time-out. After Crvena Zvezda made a 10-0 push and Luka Vildoza was red hot. The Argentinian already had 10 points in the first half and kept his team in the game. Zalgiris was up 37-36 after the first two quarters.

The second half was one for the ages. Both teams were going back and forth, Evans was doing everything in his power to keep Zalgiris in the driver’s seat but Vildoza and Nedovic were amazing. The most crucial play was on defense when Vildoza stole the ball in the closing seconds with Zvezda leading by two (75-73) giving his team the advantage and the victory in the end.

Olympiacos vs Fenerbahce: Olympiacos handed the undermanned Fenerbahce its heaviest loss this season overall.

For a second straight EuroLeague game, Olympiacos Piraeus used a fiery entrance to cruise to a blowout win. In a manner similar to what happened against Virtus Bologna, the Reds crushed a shorthanded Fenerbahce Beko 94 – 67 at home to register their second straight win in the competition.

Despite this result, Fener,  that had to deal with multiple major absences (leading scorer Johnathan Motley, Dyshawn Pierre, and Scottie Wilbekin), remains the standings leader, now at 10 – 3. Olympiacos improved to 9-4.

Sasha Vezenkov scored 13 out of his 21 points in the first quarter where Olympiacos took a 31-11. The hosts had as many points as in the first period vs. Virtus thanks to a very potent offense while their opponents not only struggled to make their own shots but also committed eight turnovers in this quarter.

While Fener improved its offensive game, Olympiacos remained strongly connected to the basket to take a 58 – 31 halftime advantage. Giorgos Bartzokas’ players had some stunning numbers at the break: 9 – 16 triples, 14-16 2-pointers, and 19 assists.

Fener finetuned its defense after the break and managed to cut the deficit to 19 when Marko Guduric made it 70 – 51 but that was it. Olympiacos answered with a 9 – 0 run and proceeded to increase the margin beyond 30.

Carsen Edwards (13 points on 4-12 shots) and Nick Calathes (10 points, five turnovers) were the only Fener players in double figures.

Giannoulis Larentzakis and Shaq McKissic contributed 12 points apiece to Olympiacos’ win while Moustapha Fall had 11 points. George Pappas debuted for the Reds in EuroLeague, scoring a basket.