Alba Berlin vs Baskonia: Last placed Alba beats first placed Baskonia

In a game that describes best how competitive this season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is, last-placed Alba Berlin defeats leaders Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 85-84 in an eventful match at Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Jaleen Smith was the top scorer of the winning side with 18 points, but Tamir Blatt almost had a double-double with 11 points and nine assists for the highest PIR of 19.

Louis Olinde and Maodo Lo added 11 points each, while Johannes Thiemann had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Pierria Henry led Baskonia with 19 points, Marcus Howard followed with 17, Darius Thompson added 15, and Rokas Giedraitis 10 points.

Alba took control in the first quarter with a 17-3 run, but Baskonia cut the deficit to seven points with three-pointers from Howard and Sedekerskis in the last 35 seconds (27-20). The Spanish team then took the lead midway through the second quarter, but Alba finished it strongly and ended the first half with a 54-48 advantage.

The German champions managed to stay in front after the break and grabbed a double-digit surplus, leading 77-67 into the final quarter. The Vitoria team came back in the last 10 minutes and was in front again after an 11-0 run with around five minutes to go. As expected, that led to a dramatic finish, where Alba managed to survive two attempts from Baskonia in the last nine seconds.

Zalgiris vs Fenerbahce: Zalgiris win, but lose Evans.

Ignas Brazdeikis scored 17 points and Laurynas Birutis posted a career-high 15 points plus six rebounds as Zalgiris Kaunas routed Fenerbahce Beko 86 – 66 in the first EuroLeague round of 2023. Zalgiris handed Fener its fifth straight loss in the competition despite losing leading scorer Keenan Evans to a non-contact apparent Achilles tendon injury just one minute into the game.

Zalgiris assumed control by playing strong physical defense and closed halftime up 41 – 30. The hosts kept the same intensity and hustle in their game for a 12-0 run that spanned between halves and held Fener to just one point for the first five minutes into the third period to go ahead 56 – 31.

Fener was struggling to make shots while committing turnovers and losing the battles for loose balls. Dimitris Itoudis’ team trailed up to 28 points, 65 – 37 at the end of the third period, before trimming the margin in the last quarter.

Only Devin Booker (10 points) scored in double figures from Fener.

Bayern Munich vs Panathinaikos: Bayern resists Dwayne Bacon

In cruise control from late in the first quarter, FC Bayern Munich rolled Panathinaikos, 84-68, Thursday.

Dwayne Bacon scoring 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter made a scare but he was too late to the party. The team effort in defense prevented easy buckets for the visitors, in the process creating long droughts for the players guided by Dejan Radonjic. Apart from being limited to 24/63 from the field, the visitors did not do themselves any favors netting only 11 of 20 free-throw attempts.

The former Bayern boss, the play-caller for the two last domestic league championships in 2018 and 2019, saw his current side fall to 6-11 with a fifth loss in a row. On the wrong end of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 17 contest, the fourth straight loss on the road, part of a poor 2-7 effort away from Greece’s capital.

Matching his personal best for the 2022-23 season, former South Alabama standout Augustine Rubit produced a game-high 23 points. 

Providing more action for Andrea Trinchieri’s side, Freddie Gillespie posted a ten-point, ten-rebound double-double.

Isaac Bonga and Othello Hunter chipped in 11 and ten points, respectively. Besides the defensive effort, making 33/61 from the field, including 28/47 two-pointers and plenty of second-chance points inside the paint kept the home side in charge.

Former Bayern forward, Derrick Williams tallied eight of his 14 points in the third quarter following Bacon on the scoring list of Panathinaikos. Panagiotis Kalaitzakis (back) missing another round sat out alongside Andrew Andrews and Nikos Pappas.

Barcelona vs Virtus Bologna: Lundberg comes in clutch!

After getting the upper hand against Fenerbahce, Virtus Bologna managed to beat another EuroLeague powerhouse as Sergio Scariolo’s team got the 83-75 on-the-road win against Barcelona.

Iffe Lundberg was the highest scorer for the guests. The Danish former Phoenix Suns player had 20 points with 4 steals shooting 7/9 from the field.

Milos Teodosic played a good contribution off the bench, ending the game with 8 points and 6 assists, including some highlight reel dimes to Ismael Bako (8 p).

Returning from injury, Semi Ojeleye scored 14 points with 4 rebounds and clutch plays in the last minutes of the game in fast-break opportunities.

Oscar da Silva, who came off the bench to substitute Nikola Mirotic (9 p), had basically the perfect night, shooting 3/3 FG and 5/5 FT for 11 points with 6 rebounds.

In the second game of 2023 after beating his former team Real Madrid, Nicolas Laprovittola registered the first double-double of his EuroLeague season with 11 points and 10 assists. Jan Vesely added 12.

Sergio Scariolo didn’t have Daniel Hackett and Isaia Cordinier, other than Awudu Abass. Sarunas Jasikevicius, instead, had to do without starting playmaker Tomas Satoransky and Sergi Martinez.

After finishing the first quarter up by 11 points, Virtus Bologna managed to stay ahead until 5:28 left in the third quarter, where the home side found the first lead of the game.

However, things changed once again, with the Italian team running away with a night to remember shooting the ball inside the area (22/30 vs 15/30). Barcelona had 17 turnovers in the loss, while Virtus recovered the ball on 12 occasions.

Partizan vs Monaco: Lessort dominates again

Mathias Lessort scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Kevin Punter scored 19 points as Partizan Belgrade opened the new year in EuroLeague by beating Final Four contender AS Monaco 100 – 80. Zeljko Obradovic‘s players dominated the last quarter 31 – 12 to register their fourth straight EuroLeague win.

The two teams went toe to toe after a balanced first half (48 – 47) until Partizan made an 11-0 run capped by two Lessort Buckets to go up 79 – 68 at the beginning of the fourth period. Danilo Andjusic and Dante Exum, who scored 10 out of his 11 points in the last eight minutes, helped Partizan retain a double-digit advantage that kept increasing in the last lap.

Monaco had recovered after a 26 – 15 start to even things out and take a 40 – 43 lead with three minutes to go for halftime. The visiting side kept the same offensive rhythm but suffered blackout in the beginning of the fourth quarter and fell behind, never to recover.

Elie Okobo had 17 points plus nine assists from Monaco but went 1-6 from beyond the arc. The Monegasque team was overall unable to make shots from range, finishing with 5-24, in large contrast with its opponents’ 15-26. Mike James also struggled and had nine points on 2-12 shots.

Yam Madar contributed 15 points to Partizan’s win and Danilo Andjusic scored 12 on 4-4 triples

Tags: Euroleague Partizan Monaco Fenerbahce Zalgiris Barcelona Virtus

Baskonia Alba Bayern Panathinaikos