The GameS of week 26:

Baskonia vs Real Madrid

If you only looked at the standings, this was supposed to be a mismatch. If you remembered the last time these two met, in the 25/26 Copa del Rey final, you knew better.

Baskonia hosted Real Madrid in Buesa with the teams sitting on opposite ends of the EuroLeague table, but that backdrop never really mattered once the ball went up. The game had teeth from the start, and it quickly became a chess match built around two very clear ideas.

Real came out leaning hard into pick and roll, putting the ball in Facundo Campazzo’s hands and letting him orchestrate. It worked immediately. Campazzo was responsible for Real Madrid’s first 15 points, scoring 11 of them himself and completely controlling the opening rhythm.

Baskonia had a counter ready.

They went 5 out, using Diakite as a perimeter big, spacing the floor, shooting the three, setting screens, flowing into DHOs, and most importantly dragging Walter Tavares away from the paint. That was the pressure point. Baskonia’s first nine points all came from behind the arc, and that set the tone for the rest of the quarter. Both teams stuck with their initial plans, but the success shifted once Campazzo sat. Real’s offense lost its flow, Baskonia kept bombing away, and the hosts closed the first quarter up 29 27 after missing only one of their nine three point attempts.

For Real, the best thing working in that opening stretch was the live ball turnover game. Baskonia only turned it over four times in the first, but Real turned those into four steals and converted quickly on the other end.

The second quarter turned into a tale of two halves.

Baskonia came out swinging, ripping off a 7 0 run in just over two minutes and forcing Sergio Scariolo into an early timeout. It did not help much at first. Baskonia kept adding to the lead, and Diakite kept forcing Tavares into uncomfortable spots. The hosts were up 13 4 in the quarter, and for a while it looked like they had found the exact formula.

Then Diakite sat.

That changed everything.

Mario Hezonja scored five straight to settle Real down. Campazzo came back and restored the offensive fluidity. Suddenly, the game flipped on its head. Real closed the half on a 19 6 run over the final 5:19, and that stretch also happened to line up with Tavares’ most dominant defensive minutes of the night. He blocked three shots, erased several more without even touching them, and completely changed the calculus around the rim. Omoruyi could not replicate what Diakite had been doing, and Baskonia’s spacing advantage evaporated.

By halftime, Real had turned a bad quarter into a 53 48 lead.

The third quarter felt like it belonged to a different game.

After the pace and shotmaking of the first half, this one slowed to a crawl. At the 4:25 media timeout, the score in the quarter was just 9 9. Possessions got heavier. The ball stuck more. It looked like a game trying to decide what kind of finish it wanted.

Then Campazzo’s foul trouble forced another adjustment, and Real turned to Hezonja.

Without the Argentinian on the floor, the merengues leaned into Hezonja at the elbow and in the mid post, getting him the ball in his sweet spots and letting him work. He was excellent, not just as a scorer but as a passer when Baskonia loaded up. He called his own number when needed, and when the help came, he moved it.

Baskonia stayed alive by changing the source of their offense. The threes were not falling the same way, so they attacked vertically and hunted contact. The ball started living at the foul line. After attempting just 4 free throws in the entire first half, they went 12 of 13 from the stripe in the third quarter alone. That aggression kept them close.

Still, Real entered the fourth with a three point lead.

Then it almost got away from Baskonia.

Real scored the first six points of the final quarter and stretched the lead to nine, the kind of margin that can feel enormous late against a team as experienced as Madrid. Baskonia answered with a 5 0 run, and from there the quarter became a straight shot making contest. Both teams were landing punches. Madrid’s lead hovered around four. It felt stable, if not safe.

With 2:33 left, Campazzo drilled a three to push Real up seven.

That should have been the stabilizer. Maybe even the dagger.

Kobi Simmons had other ideas.

The American guard hit back to back threes, slicing the deficit to one with 1:05 left and injecting chaos into the final minute. On the other end, Real went right back to what had worked all night, another Campazzo pick and roll. He snaked through the defense, drew the foul, and went to the line. He missed the first, corrected on the second, and split the pair.

That left the door open, and Timothé Luwawu Cabarot kicked it down.

TLC had been a steady scoring source all night, even if he had not dominated the conversation. Now he was the guy. With Deck draped all over him, he drilled a long two to tie the game with 37 seconds left.

Scariolo called timeout and made his choice. If there was going to be a hero, it would be Hezonja.

Campazzo fed him on the block. Hezonja went to the old reliable turnaround jumper. It looked clean. It looked like the shot. It rattled out.

And then the game gave him the cruel twist.

On Baskonia’s final push, Hezonja fouled Kobi Simmons on the game winning attempt. Simmons stepped to the line and calmly made both. With 1.9 seconds left, Scariolo still had time to draw something up, but Real never found a real look. The possession dissolved into a Llull near half court heave that had no real chance.

Baskonia closed on a 10 1 run over the final 2:33 and stole it, 98 96.

The stat lines tell a lot, but not everything.

Campazzo was brilliant with 21 points and 9 assists. Hezonja added 17 points and 5 assists and spent long stretches looking like the obvious late game answer. For Baskonia, TLC led all scorers with 26, while Simmons poured in 21 and authored eight of the biggest points in the clutch.

But the matchup that really decided the game lived at the five.

Diakite beat Tavares in the matchup that tilted the entire geometry of the floor. He finished with 21 points, went 3 of 4 from two and a perfect 5 of 5 from three, and added five rebounds. Tavares posted 10 points and 11 boards, which on paper looks fine. On the floor, it was a different story. Whenever both shared the court, Diakite’s ability to pull Tavares out of the paint, make him guard in uncomfortable areas, and still punish him with shooting shifted the balance toward Baskonia.

This was not just a case of one big outscoring another. It was a case of one big changing the terms of the game.

And in a game this tight, that was enough to swing the result.

 

Hapoel vs Panathinaikos

This was a really fun game, and one of those matchups that kept changing shape every few minutes.

Hapoel started better than Panathinaikos, and the early edge came from exactly what you want to see against a team like the Greens. The ball was moving, the lanes were opening, and the offense had a flow to it. On the other side, Panathinaikos looked a little stuck out of the gate, mostly because Hapoel had a very clear plan for Kendrick Nunn.

The motto was simple. Send him right, avoid left at all costs.

Collin Malcolm took on the primary assignment, and that coverage worked. It disrupted Panathinaikos’ rhythm early and kept one of their biggest engines from getting comfortable. But Panathinaikos found a very familiar pressure point. They went hunting for Vasilije Micic and attacked him, over and over. That worked not just for the ball handler, but for the roller coming out of the action, and it opened up a lot of efficient looks inside. The Greens ended up scoring better than 70 percent from inside the arc, which tells you how much success they had once they found the right matchup.

The second quarter tilted back toward Hapoel.

They became the aggressor, and Antonio Blakeney was a big part of that. He brought a rhythm Panathinaikos was not expecting and buried back to back threes to push Hapoel in front. With more talent and pure scoring ability on the floor, the Israeli side looked more dangerous and more confident.

Then came a stretch where Hapoel lost track of some things defensively.

Around the middle of the second quarter, miscommunications started popping up, especially off the ball, and Panathinaikos made them pay. Juancho and Cedi both took advantage of actions that simply were not covered cleanly, and that helped the Greens claw back into it. Still, Hapoel had answers of their own. They were getting easy baskets near the rim, and Iwundu and Odiase made the biggest impact there, finishing plays and punishing the interior.

The third quarter belonged to Kostas Sloukas.

This was the stretch where Panathinaikos looked like it might break the game open, and Sloukas was the reason. He took over without hijacking the offense, which is the classic Sloukas trick. He scored, he created, he pushed the pace, and his tempo got almost frenetic. Hapoel did not enjoy that at all. Panathinaikos stretched the lead into double digits in the final three minutes of the quarter and seemed to be taking control.

Then Micic turned back the clock.

Just when it looked like the game was drifting away, he made sure Hapoel stayed in it. That sequence gave the game oxygen again, and then Collin Malcolm added the exclamation point. At the buzzer of the third quarter, with Hapoel trailing by 12, Malcolm drilled a half court shot to cut it to nine.

That mattered.

It changed the emotional temperature of the game heading into the fourth, and it came with another important layer underneath. Through three quarters, Panathinaikos had committed only two turnovers. That was one of the biggest reasons they were in front. They had been efficient, yes, but they had also been incredibly clean with the ball.

Then Hapoel changed the board in the fourth.

They opened the quarter with a small ball lineup, and that shifted everything. Malcolm and Elijah handled the four spot, Odiase played the five, and suddenly Hapoel had scorers and creators everywhere. Micic, Blakeney, Chris Jones, at times they even went full five out when Odiase sat.

The plan was simple, and it worked.

Run pick and roll with Odiase screening, open the floor, and throw the lob. They hit it twice with clear lanes, and that sequence completely flipped the momentum for the home side. The spacing looked different, the pace looked different, and Panathinaikos suddenly had a much harder time controlling the game.

Blakeney was enormous in that stretch.

He hit clutch shots, made clutch blocks, and gave Hapoel the kind of two way swing possessions that define fourth quarters in games like this. More broadly, Hapoel’s spirit in the final period was unmatched. They got more physical, played with more force, and just as importantly, they controlled their own mistakes. Only two turnovers in the fourth. That matters when you are trying to chase down a team that had been protecting the ball all night.

And then the other big shift came.

The threes started falling.

They had not in the first half, but in the fourth quarter the shots finally dropped, and that changed the math of the comeback.

What made this game so good was not just the star power or the scoring swings. It was the constant counterpunching. Hapoel had the better start. Panathinaikos found the matchup and punished it. Sloukas nearly blew it open. Micic dragged it back. Malcolm changed the mood with a half court buzzer beater. Then Hapoel went small, opened the floor, found the lobs, and brought a different kind of force to the final quarter.

Really fun game, yes.

Also a game full of answers, adjustments, and a fourth quarter where Hapoel completely changed the terms.

 

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Nathan Reuvers vs Virtus

This week had no shortage of strong individual performances, but no one burned brighter than Nathan Reuvers against Virtus.

The Valencia big was flat out unstoppable.

Reuvers finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and a monstrous 44 PIR, putting together one of those nights where every touch seems to have an answer built into it. The efficiency jumps off the page. He went 7 of 8 from two, a perfect 5 of 5 from three, and 4 of 5 from the line. For a 6’9 center, that kind of scoring profile is absurd on its own. The way he got there made it even more impressive.

This was the full bag.

Transition threes. Spot up threes. Finishes as the roll man. Nowitzki like fadeaways out of the post. Even some closeout attacks where he put the ball on the floor and showed off the handle. Reuvers was not just making shots, he was showcasing the entire range of what makes him such a unique offensive piece. Every time Virtus tried to adjust, he had another counter. Nothing they threw at him ever really disrupted his rhythm.

And that is what stood out most. Not just the volume, not just the efficiency, but the ease.

He was a +20 in only 21:33 of playing time, which says a lot about how devastating those minutes were. He did not need a marathon workload to completely warp the game. He just needed touches.

Showings like this are the kind that make suitors pay even closer attention, and it is easy to see why. Luckily for Valencia, they already understood what they had. Back in March, they secured his services through the 27/28 season, and nights like this are exactly why that move looks even better now.

Also worth a spotlight: Moses Wright

Moses Wright had the second best performance of the week, and the context around it made it even juicier.

Against a rival team that showed interest in him for next season, and with both teams fighting for the same goal, a playoff spot, Wright delivered a monster showing in Kaunas. He put up 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, including 3 on the offensive glass, and added 2 blocks.

That is the kind of line that hits every pressure point in a high stakes game. Physicality, activity, rim presence, second chance creation. A big time performance in a game where every possession carried playoff weight.

 

Standings Watch:

We have a new EuroLeague leader, and yes, the top of the table just got a little more interesting.

After Fenerbahçe’s loss in Munich, Olympiacos now sits alone at the top of the competition. Technically, anyway. The catch is that both teams have the same number of wins, which makes this less about separation and more about timing. Still, the optics matter. The Reds are first, Fenerbahçe is no longer there, and the conversation naturally follows.

So, is this just Fenerbahçe plotting to avoid the famous first seed curse?

Probably not. But it is funny how that storyline keeps hanging around every time the top spot changes hands. The idea that whoever finishes first never wins gold is one of those EuroLeague superstitions that never really dies. In a vacuum, maybe dropping off the top line is not the worst omen. In reality, every team in this tier still wants the one seed, and every team wants the path that comes with it.

The bigger drama might be lower down.

The Play In race is getting tighter, and Monaco and Crvena Zvezda are now the teams living most dangerously. Both sit just one win above the cut line, which is not much breathing room at all this late in the season. One bad week, one wrong result, and suddenly the margin disappears.

Maccabi is the team applying the most pressure.

They are one win behind that duo, but the important detail is the game in hand. That changes the math and the tension. It means the chase is not just active, it is real. If Maccabi takes care of that extra game, the entire picture can shift in a hurry.

Behind them, Dubai and Milano are still hanging around, still technically in it, but the runway is getting shorter by the week. That is the hard truth of this stage of the season. Chances do not disappear all at once. They erode, week by week, result by result, until suddenly there is nothing left to chase.

At the top, a new leader.

Around the Play In line, very little safety.

That is a pretty good summary of where the standings are right now.

 

Games to Watch Week 27:

Olympiacos vs Real Madrid

This is the game of the week, and there is really no debate.

Two of the winningest clubs in EuroLeague history, a packed Peace and Friendship Stadium, top seed implications, home court implications, and enough star power to make almost every possession feel like its own event. This is the kind of game that does not need much selling.

Both teams are still hunting the top overall spot. Both want to hold on to, or improve, their playoff position. And both understand what home court can mean once the postseason starts. That alone would be enough. Add the names on the floor, and this becomes appointment viewing.

Talent wise, these are two of the best teams in the competition, which means the matchup board is loaded. There should be something interesting at every position, but a few battles stand out as the ones most likely to tilt the result.

Start at center.

Nikola Milutinov and Walter Tavares are two of the best bigs in the league, and this is one of those classic game within the game matchups that deserves its own spotlight. Size, rim presence, rebounding, screen setting, interior control, every part of it matters. When two anchors like that share the floor, the geometry of the entire game changes.

Then there is the four spot, which might be even more fascinating.

Sasha Vezenkov enters as the MVP frontrunner, and every big game at this point feels like another chance for him to strengthen that case. Real Madrid counters with Trey Lyles, who has MVP level talent of his own, though he is a game time decision. If Lyles cannot go, or is limited, Chuma Okeke is still an elite option there and a player who matches up really well with Vezenkov. That matters because few teams can throw credible size and versatility at Vezenkov without compromising elsewhere.

If there is one warning sign for Madrid, it is the setting.

Real has struggled on the road, and in a game this big, in an environment like this, that can absolutely come back to haunt them. Peace and Friendship is not the place you want to be slightly off.

This has all the ingredients. History, pressure, stars, matchups, and a building that should feel ready to explode.

Valencia vs Panathinaikos

If Olympiacos vs Real Madrid is the heavyweight chess match, Valencia vs Panathinaikos feels like the track meet.

Expect a high scoring game. Expect a frenetic pace. Expect long stretches where it looks like both teams are playing downhill.

Panathinaikos may have a size advantage on the wings, and that is something they could absolutely look to exploit. Those bigger lineups can create problems, especially if they can get into early offense and force Valencia into cross matches.

But if Valencia is going to make this the kind of game they want, the priority is obvious. Contain Panathinaikos’ guards at all costs. That is the pressure point. If the Taronja can disrupt the backcourt rhythm and keep the Greens from getting comfortable in space, the game opens up.

And most importantly, some of the EuropeanHoops crew will be there live.

That alone might be worth tuning in.

 

What’s at Stake:

No, Partizan is not really in contention for anything meaningful in the standings.

Yes, a six game winning streak in the EuroLeague still matters.

A lot.

Sometimes late season runs from teams outside the real playoff picture get dismissed as empty calories. This one should not. What Partizan has done lately is too sharp, too clean, and too dramatic on both ends of the floor to just wave away.

Since March 1, Joan Peñarroya’s squad has been the best team in Europe.

Undefeated in that stretch, and more importantly, transformed.

The offensive improvement is real. Before March 1, Partizan was operating at a 110.1 ORTG. Since then, that number has climbed to 113.6. That is meaningful on its own, especially when paired with the stylistic shift that came with it. But the defense is where this thing really jumps off the page.

Partizan went from 17th in defensive rating to 1st.

That is not a tweak. That is a total identity flip.

They improved by a staggering 14.7 points allowed per 100 possessions, and the eye test matches it. More intensity. More aggression on the ball. More force at the point of attack. They are dictating more possessions instead of reacting to them, and that is usually where these kinds of defensive surges begin.

Then there is the pace.

This may be the sneakiest part of the whole story.

Before March, Partizan was one of the six slowest teams in the league. Since the start of the month, they have become the second fastest. That is a massive swing, and it has clearly unlocked something in this roster. More possessions, more pressure, more opportunities to leverage their improved defensive activity into easier offense. When the tempo changed, the whole team changed with it.

That is what is really at stake here.

Not a playoff berth. Not a seed. Not some miracle late season climb.

Foundation.

When a team with little left to chase starts playing this well, this hard, and this coherently, it means something. Stretches like this can carry over. They can shape rotations, sharpen identities, and establish habits that matter months from now.

Partizan may not be playing for this season anymore.

But they might be building something for the next one.

 

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!

The Game of week 25:

Valencia vs Olympiacos

A packed Roig Arena got exactly what it came for.

Valencia and Olympiacos walked into one of the marquee games of the round and delivered a thriller that felt big from the opening tip and somehow kept getting bigger. Tempo, counters, stars making plays, coaching adjustments, late game shotmaking, a teenager stepping into pressure that should have belonged to veterans. This one had all of it.

The game opened fast, with both teams pushing pace and hunting transition chances. Sasha Vezenkov landed the first punch, scoring Olympiacos’ first six points and immediately setting a tone. Then came the first real coaching wrinkle. Once Reuvers checked in for Valencia, Olympiacos immediately tried to punish him by feeding Milutinov inside. Valencia’s response was equally clear. Reuvers stretched the floor, pulled the Serbian big away from the paint, and forced a different geometry on the game.

In pure scoring terms, Reuvers probably won that mini duel. But two quick fouls sent him back to the bench, and the board reset.

Valencia, though, found another lever. They ramped up the defensive intensity and pushed Olympiacos away from the three point line. The opening quarter was sloppy in the best possible way, frantic, physical, both teams making things happen and undoing them just as quickly. They combined for 10 turnovers in the first, but Valencia’s shooting steadied everything. The Taronja hit 5 of 8 from two, 5 of 7 from three, piled up nine assists, and came out of the chaos leading 25-23 after one.

The second quarter slowed down, at least briefly. Only five total points came in the first three plus minutes, and it looked like the game might be settling into a grind. Then Georgios Bartzokas found something.

He started placing Tyson Ward on the weak side and skipping the ball to him, letting Ward attack hard closeouts. Olympiacos also used pin downs effectively, and that stretch gave them a 6-0 run that broke the tie and forced Pedro Martinez into a timeout with 1:45 left in the half.

Valencia found some answers late, but Olympiacos kept building. By halftime, the Greeks led by eight, and the free throw line told a huge part of the story. Olympiacos had attempted 14 free throws in the first half. Valencia had attempted none.

Then Valencia came flying out of the locker room.

A 7-0 burst to open the third, fueled by three early Olympiacos turnovers, instantly changed the feel of the game. Thomas Walkup got to the line and split a pair to slow the bleeding, but a Badio three tied it. Olympiacos’ offense looked stuck. Their first field goal of the quarter did not come until 2:48 remained. Before that, all seven of their points had come from the stripe.

And then, just when it looked like they might be unraveling, one basket flipped the switch.

Olympiacos answered with an 8 0 run, capitalizing on back to back Valencia turnovers and forcing another timeout with 38 seconds left in the quarter. That could have been the moment the game tilted for good. Except Valencia never seems to believe the clock applies to them. In those final 38 seconds, they closed on a 6 2 spurt and kept the damage manageable.

Still, Olympiacos entered the fourth up 69-67.

The last quarter was a grind. Not ugly, but definitely tense. Defenses were sharper than the offenses, and by the media timeout with 4:54 left, Olympiacos had only edged the quarter 5 3. That was the kind of possession by possession game the Greeks wanted. They slowed the pace, made Valencia uncomfortable, and tried to force the Taronja into half court frustration.

But Valencia does not die easily. We know that by now.

Jean Montero got fouled on a three point attempt and made two free throws to tie the game at 79 with 1:22 left. On the very next possession, Braxton Key blew the roof off the place with a huge steal and a fastbreak layup that put Valencia ahead by two with under a minute to play.

Olympiacos had a response. Of course they did. Vezenkov got to the line and calmly knocked down both, tying it again.

Then Montero went hunting.

He got Vezenkov in a switch, invited him to dance, and drilled a long two with 27.7 seconds left. That felt like the dagger. It was not. Evan Fournier answered with a three to put Olympiacos back in front with 13.7 seconds to play, the kind of cold blooded shot that usually ends road classics.

And still, there was one more twist.

Montero took the ball again, called for the isolation, rose into a pull up, and got fouled. But he could not shoot the free throws. With more experienced options sitting on the bench, Pedro Martinez handed the moment to teenager Sergio De Larrea.

That is a coaching decision that either becomes legend or gets replayed forever for the wrong reason.

De Larrea buried both.

Valencia up one. Three seconds left. Final possession. Fournier cast in the hero role one last time. No miracle this time.

Valencia survived, 85-84, and completed the season sweep of Olympiacos in a game that felt like it could matter again in May.

The numbers underneath it are telling. Valencia finished with 27 assists, 10 more than Olympiacos, which is notable against a team that leads the league in assist percentage. Four Taronja players scored in double figures, with Badio leading the way at 15. For Olympiacos, Vezenkov and Ward combined for 32, but the guard play never quite gave them enough to close the deal.

In a game loaded with counters and clutch shots, Valencia’s identity held. Ball movement, resilience, and a refusal to fold when the game tilts the other way. And on a night that already had stars everywhere, a teenager ended up delivering the calmest two free throws in the building.

Maccabi vs Dubai

This one had a little bit of everything. Pace, matchup swings, tactical pivots, a near collapse, overtime nerves, and a closer who decided the game possession by possession.

Dubai came out hot and immediately looked like the sharper team. Maccabi’s smaller lineups were getting punished, and Dubai’s forwards were the reason why. The size mismatch showed up early, but the real tone setter was Wright IV, who was playing at a speed Maccabi simply could not match. He pushed the rhythm, got downhill, and made Dubai look like the team dictating every part of the game.

Then Maccabi changed the picture.

Around the middle of the first quarter, they shifted into a 2-3 zone, and the game tilted. Dubai suddenly had trouble scoring inside, and the roles flipped. Instead of being the team bullying smaller matchups, they were now looking at Maccabi’s size with Brissett and Hoard manning the three and four spots. That gave Maccabi a different kind of control.

Kabengele became a major factor in that stretch. His presence as a lob threat bent the defense, and his rebounding gave Maccabi extra life. It was not just about finishing plays, it was about changing the feel of the paint.

Then came the third quarter, and for a while it looked like Dubai had cracked it open.

The bank was open. Shots were dropping. Dubai ripped off a 21-10 run in the first seven minutes of the third and looked ready to run away with it. That stretch had all the signs of a game slipping out of reach.

And then, just as suddenly, Dubai started rushing.

The decisions got faster, but not better. Possessions lost shape. Maccabi started walking them down, step by step, point by point. That is when Jimmy Clark III stepped into the center of the game. He was the ignition for Maccabi, scoring, assisting, making the right reads, and stabilizing every possession that mattered. By the end of the quarter, what had looked like a disaster was down to only a three point gap.

The fourth quarter was a nail biter, exactly the kind of tense, back and forth basketball that feels heavier with every trip. Buckets were traded all quarter, but Maccabi found the run that mattered most, and once they did, the ending started to lean toward chaos.

Inside the final 37 seconds, Maccabi trailed by three. Dibartolomeo knocked down a free throw to cut it to two. Then Dubai coughed up the ball in the final 14 seconds, the kind of turnover that instantly changes the emotional temperature of the building. Maccabi got a chance, missed the initial layup, but followed it with a putback off the rebound.

Tie game. Overtime.

That was the pivot point.

Dubai’s offense stagnated in the extra period, and in a game that had already featured stretches of rushed decisions, that finally cost them. The movement dried up, the rhythm faded, and the possessions no longer had the same bite.

Maccabi, meanwhile, knew exactly how to close.

Jimmy Clark III was the biggest reason why. He had already helped drag them back into the game, and in overtime he looked like the player most comfortable with the moment. The shotmaking, the playmaking, the poise, it all showed up when the game got tightest.

Dubai had the faster start. They had the huge third quarter burst. They had the lead late.

Maccabi had the last answer. And in a game this wild, that was the only one that mattered.

 

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Jimmy Clark III vs Dubai

Jimmy Clark III did not post the biggest scoring total in Maccabi vs Dubai, and that is exactly why this performance deserves the spotlight.

Because this was not about leading the box score. It was about owning the biggest moments.

Clark finished with a 23 point, 10 assist double double and committed just one turnover, a stat line that already tells you he was walking a very fine line between aggression and control. But the real story was when those plays came.

In the third quarter, with Dubai threatening to blow the game open, Clark became the answer. He met that run with a scoring burst of his own and layered in the playmaking that kept Maccabi from spiraling. It was not just shotmaking. It was game management. He understood exactly when to attack and exactly when to create.

Then overtime came, and the script repeated itself.

Once again, Clark was the stabilizer. The same calm, the same decision making, the same feel for when the game needed a bucket and when it needed a pass. That is what separated his night from a simple scoring performance.

Plenty of players can put up numbers in a wild game. Fewer can bend the game back in their team’s favor when it starts slipping away.

That was Jimmy Clark III against Dubai.

Twenty three points. Ten assists. One turnover. And, more importantly, a hand in every crucial moment that mattered.

 

Standings Watch:

Fenerbahçe is wobbling a bit, and at this point in the season that wobble can get expensive.

What once looked like a firm grip on the No. 1 seed suddenly feels a lot less secure. The recent struggles have opened the door, and in EuroLeague, doors do not stay cracked for long. There is always that old first seed curse floating around, the idea that whoever finishes first never ends up winning gold. Maybe that is a fun superstition for another time. Right now, nobody in Fenerbahçe’s building is interested in dodging the top spot.

At this stage, everybody wants the No. 1 seed.

More importantly, everybody needs to keep winning, and not just winning, but winning well.

That urgency is what makes the chase so interesting, because Olympiacos and Real Madrid are sitting just one win back. And if there are two teams you do not want breathing down your neck in late season positioning battles, it is probably those two. Both know how to close a season. Both know how to turn the final stretch into a pressure campaign.

The bigger concern for Fenerbahçe might be on the defensive end.

This is a team that usually wins by controlling games, by making opponents uncomfortable, by keeping scores in the range they want. Lately, that edge has softened. In each of their last two games, they have allowed more than 90 points. Two weeks ago, Olympiacos hung 104 on them. That is not just a bad night. That is the kind of trend that starts to matter when the margins at the top are this thin.

So yes, the standings say Fenerbahçe is still in front.

But the real story is what is happening behind them and what is happening to their defense.

The top seed is still there for them to take. The question now is whether they tighten up in time, or whether Olympiacos and Real Madrid turn this into a sprint they know exactly how to win.

 

Games to Watch Week 26:

Zalgiris vs Barcelona

This is one of those games where the phrase must win actually fits.

Zalgiris comes into this one on a tear. They just beat Real Madrid, then followed it up with another statement win over Fenerbahçe, and the confidence in Kaunas has to be through the roof. When a team starts stacking wins like that against heavyweights, it changes the feel of every game that follows. Suddenly, it is not just about form. It is about belief.

Barcelona, meanwhile, walks into this with a very clear incentive. They need this one if they want to jump ahead of Zalgiris in the standings, and at this point in the season those swings are massive. One result can shift not just placement, but the entire mood around a playoff race.

The matchup to watch is obvious.

Barcelona’s defense has been better lately, but this is a very different test. If they are going to win in Kaunas, they will have to deal with Zalgiris’ backcourt, a group that has been driving the engine during this recent surge. That means containing the rhythm, surviving the pick and roll pressure, and not letting the guards dictate the game the way they have against Madrid and Fenerbahçe.

Simple setup, huge implications.

Zalgiris is hot. Barcelona is chasing. And the standings may look a little different when this one is over.

 

What’s at Stake:

For Dubai, the season hangs in the balance. Last week they were on the verge of making a statement, a real chance to punch their ticket, and it slipped. Now Maccabi is breathing down their neck, pressing in on the Play-In picture.

Dubai had the moment against Panathinaikos, and again against Maccabi, but they couldn’t convert. Momentum is a fragile thing in March, and right now it’s tilting toward the Israelis.

Maccabi still has a game in hand. If they win, they pull to just one win behind Dubai, and suddenly what looked like an opportunity for Dubai becomes a fight for survival. Every possession, every matchup, every call matters. This is more than a game, it’s a crossroads for both teams’ seasons.

 

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!

The Game of week 24:

Fenerbahçe vs Milano

Fenerbahçe didn’t exactly start this one in their usual rhythm. Turnovers piled up, mistakes mounted, and Milano was quick to capitalize. By the end of the first quarter, the visitors were leading 23-17, their pace proving too much for the Turkish champs to contain. On 5-on-5 sets, Fenerbahçe was switching every screen, which opened easy avenues inside for Neebo, Leday, and even Booker. Milano’s biggest lead came with just two minutes left in the second quarter, a 14-point gap that looked like it could snowball.

Then came the spark: a three-pointer from Talen Horton-Tucker. It was simple, clean, and suddenly Fenerbahçe had a lifeline. Fresh legs hit the floor, defense started flying, and a few steals turned into dunks that flipped the momentum entirely. In just five minutes, Fenerbahçe had erased the deficit. Milano looked overwhelmed, suddenly their transitions were gone, their pace neutralized, and the Turkish team carried the energy with them for the rest of the game.

That run defined the second half. Milano tried to claw back, but it was too much. Fenerbahçe’s defense was sharper, tighter, and smarter than it had been in the first half. Even though they only won one quarter, the third, they made it count, dominating 28-15.

Efficiency inside was another huge factor: Fenerbahçe shot 62% at the rim compared to Milano’s 48%. And the bench? They poured in 50 points, turning the game into a full-team effort that Milano simply couldn’t match.

By the final buzzer, it was clear: Fenerbahçe had weathered the early storm, found their footing, and turned a potential scare into a statement win.

 

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Nigel Hayes-Davis vs Crvena Zvezda

Last year’s Final Four MVP reminded everyone why he earned that honor. In a crucial EuroLeague clash, Hayes-Davis poured in 21 points while posting a game-high plus/minus of +16. His impact extended well beyond scoring: three steals led the game and anchored his defensive presence.

Efficiency defined his performance: 4/7 from two, 3/5 from three, and a mix of off-ball movement, self-creation, and low/mid-post touches. Ataman leaned on him in creative ways, using him as a screener alongside Kendrick Nunn, sliding him into a five-man role, and letting his gravity stretch Crvena Zvezda’s defense. Hayes-Davis didn’t always have the ball in his hands, but his positioning changed how the entire court functioned. If this is the level he maintains, every other team in the EuroLeague has reason to be wary.

Talen Horton-Tucker vs Milano

Talen Horton-Tucker turned a game that looked like a loss into a win for Fenerbahçe, showing the kind of versatility and scoring instinct that makes him a nightmare for defenses. He attacked the rim with his usual aggression, mixed in reliable threes off screens, and finished 9/15 from the field including three triples. Most crucially, his third-quarter surge helped ignite a Fenerbahçe run that broke the game open and carried the momentum for the rest of the contest.

Both performances tell the same story: elite scoring can come in many forms, whether it’s Hayes-Davis manipulating space and defense with smart cuts and off-ball movement, or Horton-Tucker turning his team’s fortunes with aggressive finishing and timely shooting.

 

Standings Watch:

The top 10 in the EuroLeague remain the same, but the margins are razor-thin. Valencia’s home loss to Barcelona cost them their home-court advantage, while the Catalans cling to a Play-In spot. Every game now carries the weight of a playoff series.

Outside the bubble, Dubai is still breathing down the neck of the top 10, just one win shy, with a game in hand. Milano’s road loss to Fenerbahçe pushed them two games back; they’re far from eliminated, but the margin for error has evaporated.

Valencia is worth keeping an eye on. They sit fifth, two games clear of the sixth spot, but Zalgiris has momentum after a statement win over Real Madrid. Confidence in Kaunas must be sky-high. Behind Valencia, the logjam stretches all the way to the 10th spot. For a team that was once comfortably in the 1st–2nd seed conversation, back-to-back losses to Spanish teams are a stark reminder of how quickly things can shift. The next few rounds will tell whether Valencia can steady the ship or if the standings shakeup continues.

 

Games to Watch Week 25:

Real Madrid vs Hapoel

Madrid hosts a matchup that feels more like a playoff preview than a regular-season game. Both teams are jockeying not just for wins but for positioning and the luxury of home-court advantage. On paper, this is EuroLeague star power at its peak: former NBA players, EuroLeague champions, MVP candidates.

Then there are the coaches. Dimitris Itoudis and Xavi Pascual aren’t just tacticians, they’re architects of modern European basketball. This game will be a chess match, and every possession matters. Can Real Madrid protect their court, or will Hapoel become only the second team to steal a win in Madrid this season?

Dubai vs Panathinaikos

Maybe it won’t get the hype of Madrid, but the stakes are just as high. Dubai trails by a single game and a win here would tie them with Panathinaikos in the playoff race. The question is whether the newcomers can rise to the occasion and deliver when the margin for error is razor-thin.

 

What’s at Stake:

Fenerbahçe is on the verge of securing its EuroLeague postseason berth. Barring a historic collapse, the defending champions are in a position where only a total meltdown could knock them out.

From a numbers perspective, a perfect double-week would lock it in for them, but even just one win could be enough to stamp their ticket. The question now is about handling pressure: will Fenerbahçe close the deal this week, or will the weight of expectations finally show?

 

Biggest News Around EuroLeague

March is here, and with it… March Madness. Yes, the NCAA tournament usually dominates the headlines, but this week European hoops had its own flavor of the chaos. Rumors are swirling that a couple of EuroLeague players could be making the leap across the Atlantic next season.

Quinn Ellis, the British guard for EA7 Milano, is drawing interest from Duke, Louisville, and Kentucky. He’s an older guard, which means if he does make the jump, he’d arrive with just one or two years of eligibility. This season in Milano, he’s been solid, averaging 8.2 points and 4.1 assists per game, and a key contributor to their rotations.

Then there’s Matteo Spagnolo at Baskonia. He’s got a multi-year contract but a release clause that could open the door to college hoops. Nothing’s official, but the whispers are out there. Both players bring skill and experience, and if they do land in the NCAA, it could be a very interesting story for both sides of the Atlantic.

Paris has made a change at the top. Francesco Tabellini, the Italian coach who embodied the team’s identity, fast-paced, intense, three-point happy, has been let go in what came as a bit of a surprise.

It’s not hard to see why the decision was made, but the story isn’t entirely on him. Paris sits at 12-21 in EuroLeague play, and while that’s below expectations, domestically they’ve been competitive. Tabellini inherited a roster that has declined in both talent and defensive versatility. Injuries didn’t help, and consistency was always the problem, flashes of promise, but never sustained.

The Italian coach leaves behind a team that still carries the DNA he helped shape. The bigger question now is how Paris reinvents itself and who steps into that high-octane identity moving forward.

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!

The Game of week 23:

Panathinaikos vs Zalgiris

OAKA was roaring, full of emotion and excitement, and Panathinaikos and Zalgiris gave it a game worthy of that stage.

The first big moment came immediately. Mathias Lessort returned to the competition, Panathinaikos went to him on the very first possession, and he delivered with a bucket. That set the tone in the building, but early on the tactical story leaned in a different direction.

Zalgiris opened by “weakening” ball screens, especially against Kendrick Nunn, pushing him toward his right hand and trying to make every touch a little less comfortable. Still, the early spotlight belonged to the battle inside between Lessort and Moses Wright. That clash had real edge from the jump.

Despite committing four turnovers in the opening quarter, Zalgiris managed to stay in front, and the reason was simple. They crushed the offensive glass, pulling down five offensive rebounds and creating extra possessions. Panathinaikos needed a late push to stay close, and T.J. Shorts provided it with his ability to attack the paint. By the end of the first, the Greens were down only three.

Zalgiris adjusted again to open the second quarter. They began switching all ball screens not involving Nunn, which stalled Panathinaikos and forced the offense into late clock situations. On the other end, they kept finding success attacking the hedge.

Panathinaikos looked for counters. They started posting up Grant when Sylvain Francisco was the defender, but the real momentum swing came from Cedi Osman. He scored five straight to tie the game and forced a Zalgiris timeout. Then, right out of the break, he struck again, capitalizing on another turnover.

Late in the half, the Greek defense ratcheted up. Zalgiris’ shooting dried up and the Lithuanians scored only four points in the final five minutes, despite generating some quality looks. The turnover issues also kept piling up, with four more in the second quarter. That helped Panathinaikos rack up six steals in the half and turn them into easy runouts.

By halftime, the Greens had flipped the game and led 44 40.

The second half started with Zalgiris leaning heavily into Spain pick and roll, both from the middle and on the side, and they found real success with it. But the transition issues remained. Cedi Osman kept hurting them in the open floor, and after a Nunn scoop layup the Panathinaikos lead grew to nine.

Zalgiris answered like good teams do. An 8 0 run, sparked by a Brazdeikis three and five quick points from Francisco, brought them right back into it.

Ataman went back to the bench and found the stabilizer in Shorts. His ability to touch the paint stopped the bleeding and helped ignite an 8 0 run for Panathinaikos before a late Zalgiris basket trimmed the deficit to six entering the fourth.

Then came the decisive push.

Panathinaikos opened the final quarter on an 8 2 run, stretching the lead to 12 and forcing Tomas Masiulis to call timeout. It worked, at least briefly. Moses Wright converted a 2 plus 1, then Francisco drilled a three within the next minute, giving Zalgiris a jolt.

And then Lessort took over the emotional center of the game.

Back to back impact plays, first a dunk, then a charge, completely flipped the momentum again. Moments later, Osman buried a three that pushed Panathinaikos to its biggest lead of the night at 14. That sequence felt like the game inhaling and exhaling all at once.

Zalgiris kept swinging. They made another push and got within three, but they could never fully break through. Panathinaikos held on for a 92 88 win.

Cedi Osman and Kendrick Nunn combined for 46 points and carried much of the scoring load. For Zalgiris, Francisco was the engine with 23 points, while three other teammates also reached double figures.

In a game full of tactical tweaks, momentum swings and playoff level tension, Panathinaikos found just enough answers, and in OAKA, that was enough.

 

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Codi Miller-McIntyre vs Fenerbahçe

In one of the games of the week, Codi Miller-McIntyre stole the show, and he did it without needing a huge scoring night.

This was not about gaudy point totals or a heater from deep. This was about control. Full game control.

The Crvena Zvezda guard finished with a 10 point, 12 assist double double and added eight rebounds, ending just two boards short of a triple double. It was the kind of stat line that tells you he was involved in everything, and the film backs it up.

Miller McIntyre caused problems all night by getting downhill into the teeth of Fenerbahçe’s defense. Once he cracked the first layer, the real damage began. He kept making the right read, over and over, putting teammates in position to finish plays and forcing the defense to stay uncomfortable for long stretches.

That is what made the performance stand out. He was not just creating offense. He was dictating the shape of the game.

And on defense, he looked like himself. Constant pressure on the ball. Comfortable switching onto bigger players. Competitive enough to hold his own in those matchups and keep the possession alive.

There are nights when the headline belongs to the scorer who catches fire. Then there are nights like this, when the best player on the floor is the one bending every possession to his will.

Against Fenerbahçe, Codi Miller McIntyre proved you do not need a 25 point explosion to own the spotlight. Sometimes it is enough to make the defense sweat on every trip and put your teammates exactly where they need to be.

 

Standings Watch:

This was one of those EuroLeague rounds where the standings did not dramatically shift, but the tension somehow still rose.

The headline is the congestion around the Play In line. Every team currently sitting in Play In position is now tied at 17 14. That is the kind of traffic jam that turns every remaining game into a pressure cooker. One bad night can send you tumbling. One good week can change everything.

Lurking right behind that pack are Dubai and Milano, both just one win back. That detail matters. It means the group above them is not just fighting each other, it is also looking over its shoulder every single night.

The biggest loser of the week was Maccabi.

They now sit three wins behind the Play In spots, and it gets worse when you consider there are also two teams between them and the line. In a race this crowded, that kind of gap can feel bigger than the raw number suggests. It is not just about making up ground, it is about leaping multiple teams while hoping several results break your way.

So the obvious question hangs there now.

Was this the week Maccabi’s postseason hopes effectively ended?

Maybe not mathematically. But in a standings race this compressed, it is starting to feel very close.

 

Games to Watch Week 24:

Zalgiris vs Real Madrid

Is everyone ready for round two between Zalgiris and Real Madrid?

The first meeting came down to the final breath and ended with just a one point margin, so the sequel already has a built in hook. And this one has all the ingredients to deliver again.

For the season, Zalgiris and Real Madrid have been the second and third best offenses in the competition. That alone tells you what kind of ceiling this matchup has. Two elite attacks, plenty of creators, and multiple ways to stress a defense.

But there is an important split hanging over Real Madrid here.

Away from home, their offensive efficiency drops significantly, sliding from 120.8 ORTG to 113.2 ORTG. That dip goes a long way toward explaining the Blancos’ road issues and their 5 10 record in those games. The offense still has talent, but it has not traveled with the same force.

That is where Zalgiris becomes especially interesting.

Their guards are the ones who control the shape of the game, and they love to live in the pick and roll. Expect them to bring Edy Tavares into as many actions as possible, probing for openings and trying to use Moses Wright as a roller to put pressure on the defense. If Zalgiris can consistently force Tavares into difficult reads, that could tilt long stretches of the game.

On the Real side, the matchup pressure comes from different places.

Mario Hezonja and Trey Lyles are the kind of players who walk onto the floor as mismatches. Size, skill, shotmaking, versatility. Against almost any opponent, they can force a defense into uncomfortable decisions, and Zalgiris is no exception. If Real is going to steady itself on the road, those two feel like obvious pressure points.

So yes, this has all the signs of another tight one.

Two elite offenses. One team trying to weaponize its guards and pick and roll game. Another bringing oversized shot creators who can bend the floor in their own way. If the first meeting was any indication, expect another exciting game that stays close deep into the fourth.

 

What’s at Stake:

Should the sirens start to play in Barcelona?

The Catalans have now dropped four straight, and the surprising part is where the problem is showing up. Contrary to what many would expect, this is not really about the defense. The bigger issue has been on the offensive side of the ball.

For the season, Barcelona has posted a 117.7 ORTG, a strong mark that reflects the talent and firepower in this roster. But over the last four games, they have not reached that number once. In fact, they have gone above 111 ORTG only a single time in that stretch.

That is not just a cold patch. That is a real offensive slowdown.

The shooting numbers from deep help explain why. Barcelona has gone just 27 for 105 from three in those four games, a brutal 25.8 percent. When a team built to create advantages and space the floor goes that cold, everything starts to look harder. Driving lanes tighten. Rotations arrive sooner. Possessions become more fragile.

And that is what makes this stretch so fascinating.

Because when a team with this much talent starts sputtering offensively, the question is not only about the percentages. It is about the response. What gets simplified? What gets emphasized? Which players are put in more advantageous spots? How much of this is just shooting variance, and how much is something deeper?

That brings it back to the biggest question.

What will Xavi Pascual do to solve it?

Barcelona still has the talent to snap out of this quickly. But four straight losses and an offense that suddenly looks stuck is enough to make the alarms at least start warming up.

 

Biggest News Around EuroLeague

Life in Monaco has not been easy lately, and the hits just keep coming.

The latest blow is a significant one. Mike James has picked up a hamstring injury and is expected to be sidelined for the next two to three weeks, a tough loss for a team that has already been navigating turbulence.

And the context matters here.

Monaco went into the game against Olympiacos with just a nine man rotation. One of those nine was the EuroLeague’s all time leading scorer, and even with that thin margin, the Monegasques found a way to win. They currently have only 11 players registered in the EuroLeague, which makes every absence feel heavier and every rotation decision tighter.

That is what makes the James injury more than just a headline. It is not only about losing a star. It is about losing a star on a roster that already feels stretched to its limits.

This is where Monaco’s season keeps getting tested. Depth has already been a talking point. Availability has already been an issue. Now the team has to survive another stretch without one of its central engines.

So the question becomes the obvious one.

How will the Monegasques handle yet another dose of adversity?

Given everything around this team lately, the answer may say a lot about where this season is really headed.

 

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!

The Game of week 22:

Valencia vs Zalgiris

Inside Roig Arena, Valencia and Zalgiris delivered the kind of clash you expect when two of the most entertaining teams in the competition meet. Tempo against control. Fluid offense against methodical execution. For stretches, it felt like two different basketball philosophies sharing the same floor.

The only early surprise came from Zalgiris, with Sylvain Francisco coming off the bench. Everything else followed familiar patterns. Valencia sprinted into the game at a breathtaking pace while Zalgiris tried to slow the rhythm to a crawl. On the first three possessions alone, the Lithuanians dragged the shot clock under five seconds, forcing Valencia to defend full possessions.

It worked for a moment, but then Darius Thompson drilled two threes and the gap opened quickly, growing to nine by the first media timeout.

Without Birutis available, Tomas Masiulis went small with Tubelis at the five and Ulanovas at the four. The adjustment did not shift the balance much. Valencia consistently forced Zalgiris into rotations and attacked closeouts. Omari Moore thrived in those situations, slicing into space created by the defensive scramble.

Zalgiris never really found a rhythm in the opening quarter. Three turnovers. Cold shooting at 5 of 14 from the field. Just 13 points in the period. The Valencia bench alone produced 15, helping the hosts build a 25 point first quarter.

The second quarter flipped the tone. Zalgiris opened with a quick 6 0 run in under two minutes, capitalizing on two Valencia turnovers and forcing Pedro Martinez to call time. When play resumed, Sako reentered and immediately influenced the game with Gortat screens that opened driving lanes for the guards. Valencia answered with an 8 4 push that forced Masiulis to regroup.

Against the Zalgiris switching scheme, Valencia attacked from different angles than usual but with the same elite results. Instead of relying strictly on perimeter creation, they began posting up bigger wings like Taylor and leaned on Pradilla at the four, targeting Francisco and Maodo Lo. With the center stretching the floor, those mismatches created high quality looks.

Zalgiris struggled more in the half court. Their offense looked better in transition, but with Francisco quiet at just three points in the half, the visitors trailed by 11 at the break.

Out of halftime, adjustments arrived quickly. Zalgiris abandoned the switching coverage on side pick and rolls and began icing the action instead. Offensively, they simplified everything. An empty side pick and roll flowed into a middle pick and roll over and over again. The result was a 17 8 run across the first five minutes of the third quarter, slicing the Valencia lead down to two and forcing another timeout.

The pause steadied the hosts. Valencia rediscovered its offensive rhythm by attacking once the defense rotated, pushing the score to 71 64 entering the final period. Still, warning signs appeared. The three turnovers in the third matched the entire first half.

Zalgiris, meanwhile, played a near perfect quarter from a control standpoint. Zero turnovers and nine assists kept them within striking distance.

The fourth opened with both teams trading baskets until Valencia produced one of those bursts that define their style. A 5 0 run in five seconds flat. Taylor hit a three. Sako followed with a dunk. Suddenly the lead was back to double digits and Masiulis needed another timeout.

Zalgiris refused to fold. Sleva, who had already knocked down a few timely threes, hit another to spark a rally. Moses Wright kept attacking and living at the free throw line. The run peaked when Francisco buried a deep three that tied the game at 87 with 56 seconds left.

And then the offense stopped.

Valencia’s response was simple. Badio created space for a tough mid range jumper. Zalgiris came up empty on the next possession. Jean Montero calmly walked to the line and closed the door. Final score, 91 87.

Valencia survived a tense finish despite scoring just six points over the final five minutes and thirty four seconds. Omari Moore led the way with 16 points, supported by three teammates in double figures. Badio and Taylor deserve special mention for their defensive work, holding Francisco to an off night with nine points on 1 of 9 shooting and three turnovers.

For Zalgiris, Moses Wright produced a strong performance with 20 points and nine rebounds. Sleva added 14 points and Brazdeikis chipped in 13.

In the end, Valencia’s ability to exploit rotations and create advantages just enough times proved decisive. In a game defined by adjustments and momentum swings, the Taronja found the final answer.

Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos

The Greek derby opened with the home team looking composed and organized on both sides of the floor. With Sasha unavailable, Alec Peters stepped into the spotlight and took on the responsibility of filling the gap left by the former MVP.

Panathinaikos actually landed the first punch, but it did not take long for Olympiacos to flip the momentum. Two early threes gave the Reds the lead and, more importantly, allowed their defense to dictate the rhythm of the game. From that point on, Panathinaikos’ offense looked unprepared to deal with the defensive pressure.

Frank Ntilikina spent long stretches on Kendrick Nunn, while Nikola Milutinov handled the blitz coverage well early on. Even when Panathinaikos beat the first line of defense off the dribble, Olympiacos stayed extremely disciplined. Help came on time. Rotations followed immediately. The chain never broke. The result was a first quarter in which the Greens could only muster 13 points.

Olympiacos did not fully capitalize on the small ball look with Mitoglou at center for the greens. In the final three minutes of the opening quarter they rushed several possessions, leaving points on the table and finishing the period just under the 20 point mark. Still, the defensive tone had been established.

Nunn, meanwhile, looked completely out of rhythm. Too many mistakes, no scoring in the first ten minutes, and Panathinaikos struggled to find any consistent creator.

Early in the second quarter Olympiacos pushed the lead to 16. Their ball movement improved compared with the latter stretch of the first quarter and Panathinaikos had no real answer. For a derby with so much at stake, the Greens looked passive.

Turnovers began to pile up. Olympiacos forced them and punished them, finishing the half with 17 points off turnovers compared with just nine for Panathinaikos. Even more telling, the Greens went the first 20 minutes without a single trip to the free throw line. That stat alone tells the story of their lack of aggressiveness attacking the basket.

By halftime Olympiacos held an 11 point lead and full control of the game’s tempo.

The third quarter flipped the script. Olympiacos’ defense lost some of its early sharpness and fatigue began to show for Milutinov, who struggled to keep up with the switching and blitzing responsibilities. Panathinaikos took advantage by raising its intensity on both ends.

Defensively the Greens started picking up the Olympiacos point guard near the free throw line and pressed whenever possible. The goal was simple. Create chaos and run. Their half court offense had stalled in the first half, so they leaned into transition opportunities created by steals.

Offensively Panathinaikos became the aggressor. Nunn finally looked like Nunn, attacking downhill and drawing defensive attention. With guards collapsing the defense, the wings found open looks and knocked down four threes in the quarter. Just as important, they committed only two turnovers in the entire period.

Suddenly the game tightened. Entering the fourth quarter, Panathinaikos trailed by only two.

The final quarter acted as a reset for Olympiacos. The defensive intensity returned to the level seen in the first half. Tyler Dorsey eventually fouled out, but his minutes helped stabilize the offense when it needed direction. Evan Fournier delivered timely contributions as well.

On defense, the focus returned to containing Nunn, cutting off the same driving lanes that had opened in the third quarter.

Olympiacos also embodied its next man up philosophy throughout the night. Shaq McKissic stepped forward with energy, hustle and production on both ends, giving the Reds valuable minutes in key stretches.

For Panathinaikos, the issue remained control. Outside of Nunn’s surge in the third quarter, their guards never truly dictated the game the way they needed to.

The numbers underline the difference. The Olympiacos bench outscored the Panathinaikos bench by 16 points. Combine that with the advantage in points off turnovers and the equation becomes clear.

In a derby defined by defense, discipline and depth, Olympiacos found just enough of everything to walk away with the win.

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Leandro Bolmaro vs FC Barcelona

In Milano, one of the world’s fashion capital, the standout performance of the night did not come with flash or runway flair. It looked more like workwear. Functional. Tough. Built for the grind. That description fits Leandro Bolmaro’s night against FC Barcelona perfectly.

The box score gives you a solid outline. Thirteen points on 5 of 8 shooting. Four rebounds. Six assists. At times he even operated as the de facto point guard, initiating offense and organizing possessions. That alone would qualify as a strong outing.

But that stat line only tells part of the story.

Bolmaro’s biggest imprint came on the defensive side, where he spent the night hounding Kevin Punter from baseline to baseline. Ninety four feet of pressure. Constant contact. No easy catches. No rhythm.

The result was one of the quietest nights you will see from one of Europe’s most dynamic scorers. Punter finished with just seven points, shooting 2 of 6 from two point range and 1 of 5 from deep, while committing three turnovers along the way. Every possession felt like work.

That is the part of Bolmaro’s performance that jumps off the film more than the stat sheet. His activity, his willingness to chase and disrupt, and his ability to stay disciplined through actions turned one of Barcelona’s main weapons into a non factor for long stretches.

It is not the kind of stat line that lands a player on the red carpet. There were no fireworks numbers or viral highlights.

But it was the type of all around, high impact performance that basketball people everywhere appreciate. And the type of performance that quietly swings games.

Braian Angola vs Efes

Replacing Nando De Colo is not exactly a light assignment. That is the context Braian Angola walked into when he arrived at ASVEL. Big shoes, big expectations, and a fan base that needed something to get excited about.

Against Efes, Angola delivered the type of performance that explains why the team brought him in.

He poured in 26 points in 31 minutes, scoring from everywhere on the floor. Angola is a dynamic scorer who can get his points in multiple ways. Pull ups, drives, quick actions where he attacks the defense before it can settle. When he gets going, the variety in his scoring package becomes very hard to contain.

The stat sheet tells you he is mostly there to put the ball in the basket. Angola does not contribute as much in other areas, but that has not stopped him from becoming a lifesaver for ASVEL fans who have been looking for reasons to enjoy some good basketball again.

Since joining the team he has done one thing consistently. Get buckets.

In a brief seven game stint he is averaging 17.6 points per game with respectable efficiency, along with four rebounds and almost four assists per night. That production in such a short sample has quickly made him one of the most important pieces in ASVEL’s current rotation.

It is still early, but performances like the one against Efes make one thing clear. Braian Angola is a player worth keeping an eye on going into next season.

 

Standings Watch:

AS Monaco and Panathinaikos are skating on thin ice.

After losses this week, the two teams that currently hold the final Play In spots suddenly feel the pressure from below. Both sit just one win ahead of Dubai and Milano, and the situation becomes even more delicate when you factor in that Dubai still has one game in hand. If Dubai wins that game, they will tie Panathinaikos for the final Play In position. That possibility alone turns every upcoming game into a high tension affair.

Panathinaikos in particular looks vulnerable right now. Their form has been shaky not only in EuroLeague play but also domestically. They lost again in the Greek League last weekend by two points, and the overall feeling around the team is far from comfortable. Results in Europe have followed a similar pattern, making the current standings race something everyone should monitor closely.

Monaco’s situation adds another layer of intrigue. Their struggles have not been limited to the court, with the ongoing drama around the club still hovering over the season. When a team already fighting for position has distractions off the floor, the margin for error becomes even smaller.

At the top of the table things remain stable for now. Fenerbahçe continues to lead the league, followed by Valencia and Olympiacos. Real Madrid currently holds the final home court advantage spot, sitting two wins clear of the fifth place team.

The middle of the standings, however, is anything but stable. One win can lift a team into safety. One loss can pull them straight into the chaos. Right now Monaco, Panathinaikos, Dubai and Milano are right in the middle of that storm.

 

Games to Watch Week 23:

Panathinaikos vs Zalgiris

Panathinaikos has one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the EuroLeague. On paper, it looks like a group that should sit comfortably near the top of the standings. The reality is very different. The Greens are currently in 10th place and playing with virtually no margin of error.

The recent form explains why. Over the last ten games Panathinaikos has managed only four wins. Some of those defeats came during the absence of Kendrick Nunn, which certainly did not help. Still, the former MVP returned for major matchups against Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe, delivered solid individual performances, and the team still came away with losses.

The roster is now even deeper with the addition of Nigel Hayes Davis. His presence gives Panathinaikos another offensive weapon and adds a very solid defender to the rotation. He is the type of player who can be plugged directly into almost any system and contribute immediately.

Even so, adjustments are inevitable. The guards will need time to adapt to his presence, especially when it comes to sharing touches and playing with the possibility of less time with the ball in their hands.

And time is exactly what Panathinaikos does not have.

There are only eight games left in the regular season. That leaves a very small window to find rhythm, stabilize the rotation and rediscover consistency. The question now is simple but heavy. Can the Greens find their groove again before the clock runs out, or are we heading toward one of the most shocking endings to a EuroLeague season in recent memory?

 

Biggest News Around EuroLeague

Could PAOK be heading toward the EuroLeague in the near future? Some reports suggest that possibility, particularly with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the French clubs ASVEL and AS Monaco in the competition.

The Greek club recently made a bold and intriguing move by signing Andreas Trinchieri to a three year deal. Trinchieri brings a strong résumé built across both EuroLeague and EuroCup. His trophy cabinet includes the EuroCup Coach of the Year award from 2014, and he has consistently led competitive teams at the European level.

On the court, PAOK is currently sitting fourth in the Greek League. At the same time, they are competing in the FIBA Europe Cup, the fourth tier of European competitions, where they have reached the Quarter Finals and will face fellow Greek side Peristeri BC.

A potential jump to the EuroLeague would almost certainly require a major transformation of the roster to give the team a realistic chance to compete. That type of overhaul might not be difficult now that the club has a new owner. Greek billionaire Aristotelis Mistakidis has arrived with the promise of revitalizing PAOK’s basketball project.

For now, it remains a developing situation. But with a respected coach in place and new financial backing behind the scenes, this is a storyline worth monitoring closely over the coming months.

 

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!

The Game of week 21:

Paris vs Panathinaikos

This one opened at full throttle. Paris, as usual, was the main driver of the tempo, but Panathinaikos did not blink. They ran with them. The first quarter turned into a shot making contest, Paris lighting it up from deep, six of ten from three, while the Greens managed two of six. Beyond the arc, both offenses were sharp. Panathinaikos leaned inside, exploiting real advantages in the paint through Holmes, and for stretches that balance kept them afloat.

Nigel Hayes Davis made his debut in green, starting at the four alongside Cedi Osman at the three. Paris pressed full court, trying to speed up the decision making of the Greek guards, but they stayed poised. Turnovers were low. Execution was solid. The difference was shot profile.

Paris found a groove in the pick and roll, repeatedly hitting Dokossi as the roller. Six quick points came almost exclusively from that action, and just like that the lead ballooned to ten. Panathinaikos adjusted, switching instead of blitzing the coverage, but the damage had been done. By halftime, Paris was up 13, shooting the lights out at 10 of 22 from three.

The script held in the second half. Paris kept doing Paris things. The defense was good enough in spurts, forcing Panathinaikos to grind for every touch. Then Rogkavopoulos flipped the energy. Two forced turnovers, a quick swing, and the deficit was down to eight. Momentum teased a shift. Paris answered the only way they know how, from behind the arc again.

In the fourth, the lead stretched further, fueled in part by Panathinaikos failing to run back in transition, a dangerous habit against the fastest team in the league. Offensively, the Greens relied heavily on individual talent. The fit with Hayes Davis looked clunky for most of the night, until the final five minutes. That is when he turned aggressive, hunting shots, scoring almost 13 straight points to cut the margin to four.

Paris began to look tight, committing too many offensive mistakes. Rogkavopoulos drilled a three with 40 seconds left to trim the lead to two. Tension everywhere. Ataman was ejected. A foul sent Paris to the line, and that was effectively the end.

In the end, pace and shooting carried the day. Paris’ ability to stretch the floor and play fast proved too much. Still, that late surge from Hayes Davis leaves a trace of optimism. For Panathinaikos, it might be a glimpse that the best is yet to come.

 

Key Performances of the Past Week:

Talen Horton-Tucker vs Partizan

Once a promising Lakers prospect, now thriving in Turkish lands, Talen Horton-Tucker looks like a player who believes the stage belongs to him. Against Partizan he delivered 29 points on a blistering 10 of 12 from the field, and in a tight game he was clearly the best player on the court when it mattered most.

The scoring jumps off the page, but the rest of the box score fills up quickly too. Horton-Tucker has that rare build that feels almost unfair at this level. Too strong for most guards, too explosive for many forwards, he lives in the paint and lives at the line. The amount of fouls he draws is not an accident, it is a byproduct of pressure. Constant, downhill pressure.

This is the kind of performance that makes you wonder about ceilings. MVP chatter may sound ambitious, but nights like this are how those conversations begin. When the game tightened, he did not. He closed it.

Paris Backcourt vs Panathinaikos

Sometimes dominance does not scream at you from the points column. Nadir Hifi, Rodions Rhoden and Justin Robinson combined for 43 points against Panathinaikos. On the surface, that might not seem outrageous. Dig a little deeper.

They handed out 16 assists. They committed just five turnovers. That is control. That is orchestration.

Those three bent the defense over and over again. Drives that collapsed the paint. Kicks that found shooters. Secondary actions that turned small advantages into clean looks. They created opportunities beyond their own scoring, and they appeared exactly when Paris needed them most.

Defensively, they held up well enough to keep the structure intact. Offensively, they were the engine. Not just buckets, but decisions. Not just highlights, but command.

 

Standings Watch:

Does anyone remember Crvena Zvezda struggling? It feels like a different season.

Not long ago, there were whispers that their run was over. Some bad mouths, us included, wondered if the hole had grown too deep. Fast forward to now and the picture looks very different. Zvezda has won six of its last eight games, and the climb back into relevance has been powered by an offense that has ranged from good to flat-out elite on certain nights.

The two losses in that stretch came against Olympiacos and Maccabi, and even in those games they competed until the final possessions. There is no sense of folding. No sense of drift.

The biggest shift shows up in the flow. The ball is moving again. The offense feels more fluid, less sticky. Decisions are quicker, advantages are shared, and the result is a unit that looks connected. The defense has been somewhat better, not dominant but sturdier, enough to give the offense room to breathe.

This is what late-season traction looks like. A team left for dead finding rhythm, finding belief, and suddenly becoming a problem in the standings.

 

Games to Watch Week 22:

Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos

This one needs no marketing campaign. Greek derby. Same city that will host this season’s Final Four. Everything else is background noise.

In EuroLeague play, the recent trend has leaned red. The last five meetings have all gone Olympiacos’ way. That matters. Patterns matter. Especially in rivalries where every possession feels heavier than usual.

Panathinaikos comes in walking a tightrope. Three straight losses. The two wins before that came by a single point each. Their margin of error is paper thin right now. Every defensive lapse, every empty trip, it all compounds. On the bright side, the Greens did take the last matchup in the Greek Cup Final, so there is at least recent proof that they can land a punch.

Injuries will shape the chessboard. Olympiacos will be without Milutinov, and that absence shifts the interior equation. Rebounding, rim presence, second chances. Those details add up quickly in a derby.

And then there is the Nigel Hayes Davis factor. We have not seen him in this matchup wearing a Panathinaikos jersey. That alone introduces intrigue. On paper, he looks like one of the more natural options to match up with Sasha on both ends, someone who can absorb the physicality defensively and test him the other way.

Form says one thing. Rivalry says another. Add injuries, recent momentum swings, and a new piece stepping into the spotlight, and uncertainty becomes the headline.

 

Biggest News Around EuroLeague

McKinley Wright IV has his fingerprints all over Dubai Basketball’s perfect February.

Four games. Four wins. One MVP of the Month award.

Wright averaged 14 points and 5.5 assists, posting an 18.8 PIR while steering the ship with efficiency and control. The scoring came within the flow. Sixty four percent inside the arc. Sixty six point seven percent from three. Those are video game splits for a lead guard operating against high level EuroLeague defenses. Add a +14.4 average plus minus and you start to see the full picture. He was not just producing. He was tilting games.

Dubai’s 4-0 run was not built on soft landings. They took down Olympiacos in overtime 108-98. They beat Real Madrid 93-85. They went on the road and handled EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 96-78. They closed the month with a 96-85 win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. That is a heavyweight stretch, and Wright was the constant through it all.

What stands out is the control. The limited mistakes. The sense that the tempo bent to his will. He scored when necessary, created when the defense shifted, and never let the game speed him up.

The standings reflect it. Dubai climbed to 11th at 15-14, just one win behind AS Monaco and Panathinaikos in the playoff chase. February did not just bring an individual award. It injected real belief into a team that now sees the postseason within reach.

 

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!