EuroLeague Weekly Dose: Week 12

  • Last Updated on December 22, 2025 9:44 am by André Lemos | Published: December 22, 2025

    The Games of week 12:

    Valencia Olympiacos

    Week 12 gave us another reminder of why EuroLeague nights in Piraeus rarely feel routine, even when the script looks familiar on paper. Valencia’s return to Greek soil, this time to the Peace and Friendship Stadium, turned into a full-blown tactical duel with Olympiacos, and it delivered from the opening tip.

    From the start, the game revolved around Nikola Milutinov. Olympiacos made a point of feeding him early, leaning into inside dominance as if to test how much Valencia was willing to concede in the paint. On the other end, Valencia answered with a clear counterpunch, dragging Milutinov into pick-and-rolls and forcing him to defend in space. Both ideas worked, and the result was a fast, high-scoring opening quarter. Olympiacos edged it 27–25, living comfortably inside the arc with a crisp 6-of-9 on two-point attempts, while Valencia stayed true to itself, bombing away from deep at 5-of-9 and attacking the offensive glass for five early rebounds.

    The second quarter looked, briefly, like the moment Olympiacos might take control. Three straight triples, patience against ball pressure, and longer, more deliberate possessions pushed the lead to 11 with 6:46 left. Valencia’s response was immediate and unmistakable. An 8–0 burst in barely over a minute reset the game, and even after Donta Hall steadied things at the line, the visitors kept coming. They spaced the floor, leaned into a central pick-and-pop, and took care of the ball, committing just one turnover in the entire quarter. Defensively, Valencia clamped down, allowing only seven points in the final 6:46, and walked into halftime with a 49–47 lead that felt earned rather than stolen.

    Olympiacos again came out of the locker room with force. Walkup drilled back-to-back threes, Papanikolaou added another, and a 9–0 run forced Pedro Martinez to burn a timeout less than two minutes into the third. It barely slowed the momentum. Valencia finally broke the drought with a Nate Reuvers three at the 6:35 mark, but Olympiacos kept pressing, now using Vezenkov as a screener, exploiting his short-roll instincts and his ability to punish switches. The gap stretched to 13 before Valencia ripped off a quick 5–0 run in under 20 seconds to close the quarter. Olympiacos’ defense had been sharp, holding Valencia to 18 in the period, and the hosts entered the fourth up nine, seemingly in control.

    Then the game flipped. The final quarter opened with traded baskets, calm before the storm, and then Valencia hit the switch. Eight straight points in about 30 seconds turned into a 15–0 run that swung the game entirely, giving the visitors an eight-point cushion. Milutinov briefly halted the bleeding with an offensive rebound and free throws with 3:24 to play, and Bartzokas tried a look with Peters and Vezenkov together to stretch the floor. It didn’t matter. Back-to-back threes from Puerto and Montero pushed the lead to double digits and effectively ended the night. Valencia was surgical in the closing minutes, committing just one turnover, hitting 6-of-11 from deep, while Olympiacos went ice-cold, missing all eight of their three-point attempts in the quarter on the way to a 99–92 final.

    Depth told the story. Valencia poured in 44 points off the bench and had six players reach double figures, a collective effort that never wavered when the pressure rose. Olympiacos got everything they could from Vezenkov with 24 points and eight rebounds and from Milutinov with 13 and eight, but it wasn’t enough. In a building where small margins usually favor the home side, Valencia’s balance and composure in the decisive moments made the difference.

    Panathinaikos vs Hapoel

    The second game of the double week came with real buzz, and Panathinaikos vs Hapoel delivered on it. This one had layers, adjustments, and momentum swings that felt very EuroLeague, the kind of night where every lineup choice and every timeout mattered.

    Ergin Ataman opened by tipping his cap to the league leaders. Kalaitzakis slid into the starting five, a nod to the Micic matchup and to the respect Hapoel have earned at the top of the standings. Early on, both teams found good looks and the offense flowed, but Cedi Osman immediately separated himself. The Turkish wing poured in eight of Panathinaikos’ first 12 points, showing the full package: catch-and-shoot threes, attacking closeouts, and running the floor in transition. An uptick in ball pressure ignited a 13–0 run that forced Itoudis into an early timeout with his team suddenly down 12. Hapoel stabilized by going to Motley on the block, which sparked a 9–2 finish to the quarter, but the damage was done. Four turnovers and a rough 1-of-6 from deep left them trailing 22–17 after one.

    Panathinaikos opened the second quarter leaning into pick-and-roll, and Hapoel started switching a bit too willingly. The Greeks punished it, especially through Yurtseven, who scored five quick points attacking mismatches. On the other end, Malcolm kept Hapoel afloat, dropping 10 points in the first five minutes to keep things from slipping away. The turning point came with Kenneth Faried’s return. Hapoel immediately targeted him in spread pick-and-roll, shrinking the gap to two and forcing Ataman to pull Faried and go small with Mitoglou at the five. That move didn’t slow the momentum. Hapoel ripped off a 9–0 run, only halted by Kendrick Nunn’s shot-making. Somehow, despite shooting just 4-of-10 at the line, Hapoel went into halftime up 46–45.

    The third quarter opened with Panathinaikos throwing the first punch, a 9–0 run that looked like it might reset the game. Hapoel answered right back with an 11–0 stretch of their own, this time anchored by much sharper defense and better execution on switches. Itoudis even flirted with small-ball, using Wainright at the five, but much like the Mitoglou minutes on the other side, it backfired. Panathinaikos closed the quarter on a 7–2 run, reclaiming control and taking a 65–62 lead into the fourth.

    And then it became Kostas Sloukas time. The veteran guard opened the final quarter with a personal 5–0 burst that forced another Hapoel timeout, but the run kept growing. It finally stopped at 13 after a tough Blakeney pull-up, yet by then the tone was set. An Osman three pushed the lead to its largest, the OAKA crowd fully alive, and another timeout followed. Hapoel continued to score, but they could never string together the stops they needed. The margin never dipped below nine, and Kendrick Nunn closed it out, reminding everyone why he sits firmly in the MVP conversation, sealing a 93–82 win.

    Osman and Nunn combined for 36 points to lead Panathinaikos in a statement victory. Hapoel had balance, with five players in double figures, but the missed opportunities at the line told the story. A 9-of-20 night on free throws is a hard way to survive in a building like OAKA, especially in the fourth quarter.

    Barcelona vs Baskonia

    Friday at Palau Blaugrana was one of those nights you tell your basketball grandchildren about. Barcelona and Baskonia turned a Round 17 matchup into an all-time EuroLeague classic, a triple-overtime thriller that didn’t just produce a winner, it produced history.

    From the tip, you could tell this would be special. Baskonia came out hot, five-for-five from the field, with Marcus Howard setting the tone early. Defensively, they were disciplined, with Ratcevicius hounding Clyburn, but Barcelona’s mid-range game, led by Kevin Punter, was impossible to contain. The first quarter ended 26-17 in favor of Barcelona, but it was clear neither team would back down.

    Baskonia’s initial rhythm continued into the second, thanks to Howard and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. Howard went 4-for-4 from three early and was active on defense, refusing to be a liability. Barcelona’s guards were slicing through Baskonia’s drop coverage, and as both teams traded runs, the lead swung back and forth. By the end of regulation, Barça had rallied from a 13-point deficit to lead 97-94, only for Howard to send the game to the first OT with a massive three.

    Overtime became a showcase of endurance, execution and sheer will. In the first OT, TLC started hot while Howard cooled off. In the second, Barcelona’s depth finally made the difference, with Punter scoring 13 of the team’s next 15 points, including a driving layup with 0.1 seconds left to tie it at 122. The third OT saw Barcelona hunting mismatches, exploiting Howard with Satoransky, and running a 13-1 stretch that finally broke Baskonia.

    The stats are staggering. Barcelona scored 134 points, breaking the EuroLeague all-time single-game record, surpassing Real Madrid’s 130 from 2023. The combined 258 points are the most in league history, topping the 256 scored by Real and Anadolu Efes in a quadruple-overtime thriller just last season. Kevin Punter had a career night: 43 points, 12 two-pointers, 23 points after regulation, fourth-most in the modern EuroLeague era, and a new Barcelona scoring record. Satoransky added 23 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, while Hernangomez and Clyburn chipped in 12 each.

    Baskonia didn’t go quietly. Howard finished with 33 points on 6-of-8 two-pointers and 6-of-7 threes, TLC had 26, and Mamadi Dikaite and Khalifa Diop added 14 apiece. But even that wasn’t enough against a Barcelona team firing on all cylinders.

    At the final buzzer, the scoreboard read 134-124. Barcelona improved to 12-5, tying atop the standings and extending their five-game win streak. Baskonia dropped to 6-11 and endured their 17th straight road loss.

    This wasn’t just a game. It was an endurance test, a scoring clinic, a reminder of why EuroLeague basketball can rival anything you’ve seen anywhere else. And it all came down to one truth: depth matters, and when you have a scorer like Kevin Punter, history can be rewritten in a single, unforgettable night.

     

    Key Performances of the Past Week:

    Kevin Punter vs Baskonia

    Kevin Punter nights tend to blur together in the mind because the shots all look the same. Hard shots. Late shots. Shots that feel like they shouldn’t go in until they do, again and again, until the scoreboard starts to feel personal. Against Baskonia, Punter authored one of those performances that forces you to recalibrate what “normal” looks like for an elite EuroLeague scorer.

    Forty-three points will always jump off the page, but it’s the way he got there that deserves the real pause. Nineteen shot attempts. One turnover. Twelve makes from the field, four from deep, and a perfect seven trips to the line. That is not just volume scoring, that’s surgical efficiency layered on top of controlled aggression. Two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and almost no wasted possessions. Every touch felt intentional.

    Barcelona needed every ounce of it. Depth mattered, especially as mistakes piled up in the second overtime, but having one of the best scorers in the EuroLeague is a cheat code in games that drift toward chaos. When execution frays, when structure bends, Kevin Punter is the emergency button. You press it, and suddenly the game is back within reach.

    In truth, the 43 points themselves weren’t shocking. Scoring is what Punter has done for years. The surprise was the economy. Scoring that much while taking only 19 shots and giving the ball away just once places this outing in rare historical company. It wasn’t just a hot night, it was one of the most efficient high-usage scoring performances the EuroLeague has seen.

    Some players carry teams with noise. Punter did it with precision. And by the end, Baskonia didn’t lose to Barcelona’s system or their depth. They lost to a scorer who turned a long workday into a masterclass.

    Elijah Bryant vs Crvena Zvezda

    Elijah Bryant didn’t have the loudest box score of the week, and this wasn’t the kind of performance that hijacks the entire conversation. But it mattered and sometimes that’s the sharper point.

    Against Crvena Zvezda, Bryant poured in 28 points in a huge win and layered it with nine rebounds and five assists. Solid numbers, sure, but they only sketch the outline. The real value showed up late, when possessions got heavier and the game demanded calm instead of chaos. That’s where Bryant took over, slowing the tempo when it needed slowing, pressing when the window cracked open.

    He wasn’t just scoring, he was steering. He picked his spots, made the right reads, and kept the game from slipping into something Zvezda could control. That kind of command rarely makes the highlight reel, but coaches and teammates feel it immediately.

    Was it the best performance of the week? Probably not. There was at least one player who burned even brighter. But Bryant’s night deserves a nod because winning basketball often lives in these spaces, where timing, poise, and decision-making carry just as much weight as pure shot-making.

     

    Standings Watch:

    Don’t look now, but FC Barcelona is climbing. Five straight wins under Xavi Pascual have pushed the Catalans all the way up into a share of the lead with Hapoel and that alone changes the temperature of the season. Momentum matters in this league, not just because of confidence, but because the margin for error is microscopic. One good run can lift you into the penthouse. One bad week can drop you into the noise.

    And the noise is loud right now. Five teams are sitting on 10 wins, all staring at the same problem: only two of those slots come with the luxury of a direct playoff ticket. The rest are headed for stress, tiebreakers, and nights where every possession feels like it weighs a ton. This is where separation starts to mean something. Who blinks first, who strings together another run, and who gets swallowed by the pack.

    Lower down, the math gets uglier. Baskonia, Efes, and Partizan are all already three wins off the last Play-In spot. In EuroLeague terms, that’s not a gap, it’s a warning sign. There’s no more room for lapses, no more “we’ll fix it next week.” At this point, survival requires a streak. Anything less, and the season starts slipping through your fingers.

     

    Week 13 Games to Watch:

    Fenerbahçe vs FC Barcelona

    Two historical teams, familiar jerseys, familiar weight. Games like this always feel bigger than the standings, but the standings matter a lot here. There are two wins separating Fenerbahçe and Barcelona, with a catch that changes the equation. The Turkish side has a game in hand, which means a Barcelona loss opens the door to being leapfrogged by the defending champions before anyone has time to catch their breath.

    This one shapes up as a clash of styles in the cleanest possible sense. Traditional defense versus offense, structure versus creation, patience versus pressure. These are the games where small details snowball. A missed rotation. A late closeout. A single lineup stretch that tilts the rhythm. Neither team needs this to define their season, but both will feel it if it goes the wrong way.

    Monaco vs Real Madrid

    On the day after Christmas, the EuroLeague delivers the kind of matchup that feels like a gift. Monaco versus Real Madrid, a pairing that has already produced some unforgettable nights and more than a few moments fans would rather forget if they are on the wrong side of it.

    The context makes it even sharper. Both teams are tied in the standings, sitting shoulder to shoulder, and a win here does more than add another number to the record. It nudges the trajectory of the season. Confidence. Positioning. Belief that you belong in the top tier when the schedule tightens.

    This is one of those games you circle without overthinking it. Talent everywhere. History attached. Stakes that will echo later. A can’t miss game, plain and simple.

     

    What’s at Stake:

    Is Maccabi for real? That’s the question starting to float around Tel Aviv and it’s no longer a throwaway one. The Yellows are riding a four-game winning streak, and the driver behind it is not some sudden offensive explosion or hot shooting stretch. It’s defense. Real defense.

    Over the last four games, Maccabi is posting a 109.8 defensive rating, a number that lives comfortably in elite territory. Put that next to their season-long reality and it jumps off the page. For the year, they’ve been sitting at a league-worst 124.1. That’s not a tweak, that’s a transformation.

    So the season pivots on a simple but brutal question. Is this version sustainable? Can they keep defending at this level once opponents adjust, once legs get heavier, once the margin for error tightens? If the answer is yes, even close to yes, then the math changes fast. A real Play-In push suddenly stops sounding optimistic and starts sounding realistic.

     

    Biggest News Around EuroLeague

    The EuroLeague coaching carousel keeps spinning. FC Bayern and Gordon Herbert have mutually agreed to part ways after a brutal stretch that saw the Bavarians spiral through an eight-game losing streak, landing in 19th place. The last double week, losses against ASVEL and Monaco, was apparently the final straw.

    This marks the sixth team to make a coaching change just 17 games into the season. That’s an alarming number, even by EuroLeague standards. The real question now: is this the last domino, or will another team feel the heat before the calendar flips?

     

    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!

    December 22, 2025, 9:44 am