The GameS of week 27:

Hapoel vs Olympiacos

This one had weight before the opening tip. Two teams separated by just two games in the standings, Hapoel still chasing a Top 4 finish, Olympiacos trying to hold ground at the top. It felt like a measuring stick game. It played like one too.

The first quarter was chaos in the best way. Runs on top of runs. Hapoel landed the first punch and kept punching, opening on an 11 0 burst that not even a Georgios Bartzokas time-out could cool off. The defensive approach set the tone. They switched off-ball actions, went under every pick and roll when Walkup was handling the ball, and had Thomas Walkup completely out of rhythm. Turnovers followed, and those turned into easy transition points. On the other end, Vasilije Micic was in full control early, orchestrating everything out of the pick and roll.

Olympiacos needed something to settle the game, and Nikola Milutinov provided it. Free throws, physicality, just enough to stop the bleeding. But the real shift came from the bench. Cory Joseph, Donta Hall and Tyson Ward flipped the game with energy and execution on both ends. A 15 0 run later, Olympiacos had the lead. Elijah Bryant stopped the run late in the quarter, but the damage was done. Olympiacos closed the first up 22 18.

The second quarter turned into a shootout. Both teams came out firing, trading makes and struggling to string together stops. Dimitris Itoudis went to a wrinkle that changed the geometry of the game, sliding Malcolm to the 4. From there, everything flowed. Hapoel used him as a screener, knowing Olympiacos likes to hard hedge with the 4, and that opened downhill lanes. Olympiacos countered by punishing inside with Alec Peters on duck ins.

Chris Jones took over the quarter for stretches. Nine points, three out of four from deep, and real shot-making that kept Hapoel right there. If not for two defensive breakdowns that gave up six points in six seconds, Hapoel might have gone into halftime with the lead.

Olympiacos came out of the locker room with a clear directive. Get Sasha Vezenkov going. The opening set of the half said it all. Clean look, three ball, first points of the night, tone set. From there, his presence alone started to bend the defense. Even when he was not scoring, the gravity was doing work. Milutinov benefited the most, feasting inside against switches.

But it was not clean. Defensively, there were issues. Micic went right at Milutinov in pick and roll, putting him in tough spots. When help came, Micic picked it apart, finding wings attacking close-outs. Still, Olympiacos held on to a 73 67 lead heading into the fourth.

The final quarter turned into a chess match.

Hapoel went back to Malcolm at the 4, sticking with what worked. Olympiacos adjusted. With Hapoel switching across positions 2 through 4, the plan became simple. Find Vezenkov inside and play through him.

As the game slowed, Itoudis leaned even further into small ball. Elijah Bryant at the 4, three guards on the floor, more movement, more versatility. It worked offensively. Hapoel cut the lead to two and had momentum.

But size matters, especially late.

Olympiacos went big. Moustapha Fall, Peters and Vezenkov sharing the floor, attacking the offensive glass. Second chance points piled up, and those extra possessions ended up being the difference.

Olympiacos walked out of Sofia with an 89 85 win.

Tyler Dorsey led all scorers with 23 and had support, three teammates in double figures. Hapoel had five players in double digits, with Micic posting 14 points and 8 assists, but it was not enough to overcome the rebounding gap and those late extra chances.

A game of runs, counters, and adjustments. Olympiacos made one more when it mattered.

 

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Tyler Dorsey vs Real Madrid

Tyler Dorsey was very good across the double week, but this one stood on a different level. This was not just production. This was control through shot making.

Against Real Madrid, Dorsey dropped 37 points and added 5 assists in a comfortable 14 point win. The number that really jumps off the page is the plus minus, a +25 in just under 29 minutes. That is not noise. That is impact.

He was in full “big head” mode. The kind where every look feels clean, every release feels right, and the defense starts to press just a little bit more with every possession. He went 3 out of 4 from two, 7 out of 12 from three, 10 out of 11 from the line. Efficiency, volume, all of it.

But the real story sits in the timing.

Every time Real Madrid hinted at a run, Dorsey had an answer ready. A three to stretch the lead. A tough shot to kill momentum. A possession that just ends with him rising and firing with zero hesitation. It was not random scoring. It was targeted damage.

This was not about running offense perfectly or picking apart coverages possession by possession. This was about a scorer dictating terms, bending the game to his rhythm, and never letting the opponent breathe.

A pure shot making masterclass.

Standings Watch:

This is what the final round is supposed to feel like. No shortcuts, no clarity, just layers of outcomes stacking on top of each other.

Start with the Play In picture, where the math is clean even if the path is not. Dubai is the only team on the outside with a real shot. The equation is simple. They need to win and they need Barcelona to lose. That is it. No margin, no fallback option, just a scoreboard watch kind of night.

At the top, things are just as straightforward and just as tense. First place belongs to Olympiacos if they take care of business against Milano. Win and it is over. Lose and suddenly it opens the door for Valencia, the only team still in range, but even then Valencia would need to do its part and win as well. Clean scenarios, high pressure possessions.

Then there is the race that might be the most fascinating of the bunch. The fight for the Top 6. Zalgiris sits in pole position, but it is far from comfortable. Panathinaikos and Crvena Zvezda are both lurking, both with a path to jump straight into the Play Offs. One slip, one cold stretch, one bad quarter, and everything flips.

And layered on top of that is the Home Court Advantage battle. Valencia and Olympiacos have already locked theirs in, but the final two spots are still hanging there. Real Madrid, Hapoel, Zalgiris and Fenerbahçe are all in play, all juggling their own scenarios while trying to avoid the wrong matchup at the wrong time.

This is where every possession starts to feel heavier. Rotations get tighter, decisions get sharper, and the margin for error disappears.

If every game matters this week, they matter just a little bit more.

 

Games to Watch Week 28:

Real Madrid vs Crvena Zvezda

There are games that feel important because of the names on the jerseys, and then there are games where the standings squeeze every possession. This one lands firmly in the second category, even with two heavyweights involved.

For Real Madrid, the equation is simple and powerful. Win, and home court advantage in the Play-Offs is locked. Given their well documented contrast between dominance in Madrid and struggles on the road, that is not just a luxury, it is almost a necessity. For Crvena Zvezda, the stakes cut just as deep. A win keeps alive a path into the Top 6 and avoids the Play-In minefield.

Stylistically, this is strength on strength. Crvena Zvezda brings one of the best defenses in the competition, a group that thrives on discipline, physicality, and making opponents uncomfortable deep into the shot clock. Real Madrid counters with one of the league’s most potent offenses, especially at home where their rhythm, spacing, and shot-making tend to reach another level.

That tension should define the game. Can Real generate clean looks early in the clock before Zvezda’s defense gets set, or will this turn into a grind where every cut, every screen, every decision is contested? On the other side, Zvezda’s ability to dictate tempo and force Real into uncomfortable spots could swing everything.

And then there is the coaching layer, which might be the most fascinating part of all. This feels like a game where adjustments will not just matter, they will decide it. Lineup tweaks, coverage changes, small counters that turn into big runs. Expect both benches to be fully engaged from the opening tip to the final possession.

In a round where every game matters, this one carries the weight of multiple playoff scenarios. Home court, direct qualification, momentum. It is all on the table.

 

AS Monaco vs Hapoel

This is one of those late-season games where the standings aren’t just background noise, they’re basically the script.

Hapoel travel to the Principality knowing exactly what a win would mean: a top-4 finish and home-court advantage in the Play-Offs. Monaco, on the other side, already know they’ll be in the Play-In picture, but the range of outcomes is still wide enough that a win here could push them as high as 7th place.

And if you’re looking for the center of gravity in this matchup, it starts with guard play. Monaco’s backcourt has been trending in the right direction, with Ellie Okobo and Matthew Strazel playing at a very high level recently, and Mike James returning from injury and getting closer to his top form each day. That combination gives Monaco different layers of creation, shot-making, and control depending on who has it rolling.

Hapoel counter with a guard room that doesn’t really blink under pressure. Vasilije Micic brings the steady scoring and playmaking presence, Antonio Blakeney is instant offense in the purest sense, and Elijah Bryant has been playing at an MVP-candidate level. That mix of orchestration, burst, and two-way impact is exactly why Hapoel sit where they sit in the standings.

So this isn’t just a game about talent, it’s a game about which backcourt controls the rhythm when everything tightens up.

Will Hapoel be able to lock in that top-4 finish, or does Monaco protect home court and keep their seeding climb alive?

 

Dubai vs Valencia

This is one of those games that sits right in the middle of the postseason map and quietly distorts everything around it.

Valencia are still alive for the top of the table, but the immediate clarity is simple: a win here guarantees they cannot finish lower than second. That alone would normally be enough motivation in a final-round environment where every position matters a little more. Dubai, though, are in a different kind of urgency. They need a win to keep their Play-In hopes alive. Nothing conditional about it. Just survival math.

So the stakes are balanced, even if the pressure is distributed differently.

And if that is not enough to pull you in, the talent level probably should.

For Valencia, Jean Montero has been on a real tear, playing at an MVP-level pace and giving them a late-season engine that can tilt games on his own. But what really defines this group is not just one surge scorer, it is the depth around him. Multiple options, multiple creators, multiple ways to bend a defense without relying on a single entry point.

Dubai, on the other side, brings its own cluster of high-end talent that has already proven capable of taking over games across the season and across their careers. Dzanan Musa, Dwayne Bacon, and McKinley Wright IV all fall into that category of players who do not need a long runway to swing a game. When the margin shrinks, those are exactly the types who tend to matter most.

So the question is not whether either team has enough firepower. They both do.

It is whether Dubai can summon it in a win-or-else scenario, or whether Valencia’s balance and depth are enough to shut the door on their Play-In hopes.

 

What’s at Stake:

Juan Núñez is back in competition, and sometimes late in a season that kind of return matters more than the box score suggests.

He returned last Friday against Monaco. The impact and minutes were limited, but Barcelona are not evaluating this in a vacuum. With Nicolás Laprovittola out for the season, every extra ball-handler, every extra decision-maker, every extra possession that can be stabilized becomes relevant. Núñez gives them another option at a position where they have been stretched thin.

Stylistically, he is not coming in as a scorer or a spacing threat. That is not his game. But as a playmaker and pick and roll guard, he is capable of bending a defense just enough to matter. He can get into the paint, force rotations, and collapse coverage in ways that create cleaner looks for others.

And that is really the point here.

Even if he is not the type of player usually labeled a difference maker, his ability to organize possessions and unlock teammates can still swing stretches of games. Barcelona do not necessarily need him to take over. They need him to make other players easier to find in their spots, even in limited minutes.

In a roster already dealing with absences, that kind of functionality is not a luxury. It is structure.

 

Biggest News around EuroLeaguE:

Dubai have parted ways with head coach Jurica Golemac, replacing him with Aleksandar Sekulić, which immediately adds another entry to a season that has now seen half of the EuroLeague teams change coaches midstream.

This move stands out for a few reasons beyond its timing.

Dubai still have a chance at postseason basketball heading into the final game of the regular season, which makes the decision feel even more unusual in isolation. Even more striking is the contract context: Golemac had seen his deal extended for two years earlier this season.

So this is not just a late-season reset. It is a reversal of a decision that was made with a meaningful level of commitment attached to it.

On the court, Dubai’s profile has been relatively clear all year. They have been one of the better offensive teams in the competition, capable of generating points and leaning into their high-end talent. But the other end of the floor has told a different story. Defensive issues have been persistent, and ultimately that side of the ball is a big part of why they are in this position in the standings, and why this change has now happened.

The direction going forward is also fairly straightforward.

Aleksandar Sekulić is the man chosen to fill this opening, and his priority will be raising the level on the defensive end, because the offensive talent they possess should be more than enough to sustain an above-average attack. The question is no longer whether they can score, it is whether they can finally get enough stops to match it.

This article was written by the European Hoops team: Tiago Cordeiro, João Caeiro and André Lemos. Make sure you give us a follow on Twitter at @EthosEuroleague!